WashingtonFormer US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday asked a federal court to intervene in his New York case over the payment of money to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump is seeking the court’s intervention to overturn his conviction and delay his sentencing scheduled for September 16.
Trump’s lawyers asked the Manhattan federal court to take over the case from the state court where he was arraigned and tried, arguing that the historic proceedings violated Trump’s constitutional rights and ran counter to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. They said moving the case to federal court will give him an “impartial forum, free from local hostilities” to address those issues.
“These ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 presidential election, and to voters located far beyond Manhattan,” Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote in a 64-page court filing with the U.S. District Court.
What is the case against Trump?
On May 30, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter until after the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump, whose firm recorded the reimbursements as legal expenses.
Trump faces an uphill battle to get his bribery conviction overturned, as much of the conduct at issue in the case predated his time in office. His lawyers have argued that prosecutors had placed “a highly prejudicial emphasis on evidence of official acts.” The former president’s lawyers have sought to persuade Chief Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from the case.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison, though it is the least significant criminal charge against Trump and is unlikely to hurt his White House chances. Other possible sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge that would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid further punishment.
What will happen to Trump now?
Even if the case does not move to federal court, the potential delay caused by litigation surrounding Trump’s initiative could provide crucial breathing room less than two months before the U.S. presidential election. Merchan is also weighing Trump’s requests to postpone sentencing until after Election Day and to overturn the verdict.
The conviction has become a hot topic of debate after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump had some immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while in the White House, reducing the chances of a trial before the election. Under the court, presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for official acts, and evidence related to presidents’ official actions cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions.
Trump’s lawyers argue that in light of the ruling, jurors in the hush money case should not have heard evidence like that from former White House staffers who described how the then-president reacted to media coverage of the deal to pay hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. They previously invoked immunity in a failed attempt last year to move the case to federal court.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump’s claim that the allegations in the bribery indictment involved official duties, writing in July 2023: “The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal matter for the President, a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” he said. “The bribe paid to an adult film star is unrelated to the official acts of a President. It does not in any way reflect the color of the President’s official duties.”
(with AP inputs)
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