Washington: Former US President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump asked a federal court on Thursday (local time) to intervene in his New York hush money case, where he was convicted of all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payment 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 federal court in Manhattan to seize the case from the state court where it was brought and tried, arguing that the historic prosecution violated Trump's constitutional rights and ran afoul of the US Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity. They said moving the case to the federal court will give him an "unbiased forum, free from local hostilities” to address those issues.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a 64-page US District Court court filing.
What is the case against Trump?
A Manhattan jury on May 30 found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay 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 company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.
Trump faces an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction overturned, since much of the conduct at issue in the case predated his time in office. His lawyers have argued that prosecutors had placed "highly prejudicial emphasis on official-acts evidence". The former President's lawyers have tried to persuade presiding judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from the case.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars, although it is Trump's least consequential criminal indictment that is unlikely to hurt is chances at the White House. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment.
What will happen to Trump now?
Even if the case isn't moved to federal court, the potential delay caused by litigation surrounding Trump's effort could give him a critical reprieve with less than two months to go for the US presidential elections. Separately, Merchan is 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 US Supreme Court on July 1 ruled that Trump had some immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken while he was serving in the White House, diminishing the chances for a trial before the elections. As per 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 such evidence as former White House staffers describing how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the deal to pay hush money to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. They have previously invoked immunity in a failed bid last year to move the case to a federal court.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump's claim that allegations in the hush money indictment involved official duties, writing in July 2023, “The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event," he said. "Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president's official acts. It does not reflect in any way the colour of the president's official duties."
(with AP inputs)
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