A federal court on Friday again rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to move his New York hush money conviction into federal court, dealing a setback to his attempt to press presidential immunity arguments outside the state appeals process.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump’s renewed transfer bid came too late and did not present legally sufficient new grounds. Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal Friday afternoon.
“The grounds for a second removal cited by Defendant, Donald J. Trump, are neither new nor legally sufficient,” Hellerstein, a 92-year-old appointee of former President Bill Clinton, wrote in his 35-page order. “He has failed to show good cause and diligence.”
The ruling marked Hellerstein’s third rejection of Trump’s effort to move the case from New York state court to federal court. Hellerstein, who is currently presiding over the criminal case of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, had previously rejected Trump’s initial pretrial bid and a post-conviction attempt to move the case. “I reaffirm my former decision. The President’s motion is denied,” he wrote on Friday.
Federal law allows officials prosecuted for acts connected to their office to seek a federal forum. A successful transfer would not unwind Trump’s conviction, but it could allow a federal judge to consider his argument that prosecutors in the office of an elected Democrat used evidence protected by presidential immunity.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to a $130,000 payment that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump has denied wrongdoing and is separately appealing the controversial conviction in state court.
After the conviction, Trump argued that the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling recognizing broad criminal immunity for former presidents meant the verdict could not stand. Hellerstein rejected that argument again Friday.
“Paying hush money to an adult film star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity,” Hellerstein wrote.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the matter back to Hellerstein last year, finding that he had not sufficiently addressed Trump’s immunity arguments. The panel did not rule that Trump’s conviction was invalid but directed the judge to reconsider the transfer request.
The case, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, was the only one of four criminal cases Trump faced during his reelection campaign to reach trial. The other three were dismissed.
The decision also came after Cohen said this week in a rare radio interview with Trump that he had reconciled with the president following years of hostility. Cohen, the prosecution’s principal witness, has said he was coerced into testifying, prompting Trump to argue that Cohen was “weaponized” against him.
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team called Friday’s ruling “baseless and lawless” and said the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and federal and state constitutional protections required the case to be moved and dismissed.
“President Trump will be filing a powerful appeal, and will continue defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn,” the spokesman said.
WHERE TRUMP’S HUSH MONEY APPEAL STANDS TWO YEARS POST CONVICTION
Just before returning to the Oval Office, Trump was sentenced on Jan. 10, 2025, when trial Judge Juan Merchan issued an unconditional discharge with no jail time, fine, or probation.
Trump is separately appealing his conviction in state court.