A federal judge on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump's third attempt to move his New York hush money conviction to federal court, a move that could have potentially eased efforts to have the conviction overturned.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump's latest request lacked sufficient new or legally sound arguments to justify the transfer. Hellerstein stated that Trump "has failed to show good cause and diligence" in his repeated attempts.
In his decision, Hellerstein directly addressed the nature of the case, writing that "discussions regarding hush money payments to cover up the President's relations with Stormy Daniels could not be an official act." He added that "an affair, or a cover-up of an affair, is not within the 'outer perimeter' of the President's official responsibilities."
Trump's legal team had argued that the prosecution was tainted by evidence related to his time in the White House and sought to leverage the Supreme Court's 2024 immunity ruling to void the conviction and pursue dismissal in federal court.
This decision follows a previous order from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals directing Hellerstein to reconsider his earlier refusal to move the case. While the appeals court did not mandate the transfer, it instructed the judge to fully address whether certain evidence used by Manhattan prosecutors could have involved official presidential acts.
Hellerstein also criticized Trump's legal strategy, suggesting the former president made a deliberate choice to litigate immunity claims in New York's state courts first and only pursued a federal venue after state proceedings proved unsuccessful. He noted that "a litigant cannot seek victory in one court, and then, when it becomes apparent that the court will rule against him, seek to remove his case to another court."
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors alleged he disguised reimbursements to his former lawyer Michael Cohen as legal fees. Cohen had paid Daniels $130,000 in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign to suppress her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump, which he denies.
Trump is currently appealing the conviction in New York's state appellate courts. Friday's ruling upholds the guilty verdict and maintains the case within the state court system.