Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A US federal judge on Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to move his New York hush money case to federal court, dealing another setback to his effort to erase his historic criminal conviction.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump had failed to provide new or legally sufficient grounds for moving the case out of New York state court.
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“The grounds for a second removal cited by Trump, are neither new nor legally sufficient. He has failed to show good cause and diligence,” Hellerstein wrote.
Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records linked to a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
WHAT WAS THE HUSH MONEY CASE ABOUT?
The case centred on a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen to Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels said she was paid to remain silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump, a claim Trump has denied.
The payment itself was not illegal. The criminal case instead centred on how Trump recorded reimbursements made to Cohen after the payment.
Prosecutors alleged that the reimbursements were falsely recorded in Trump’s business records as legal expenses. They argued that the records were falsified to conceal another crime involving a violation of New York election law.
Cohen testified during the trial that he made the payment to Daniels at Trump’s direction.
A Manhattan jury ultimately found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY ARGUMENT
Trump has since sought to overturn the conviction, arguing that the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity undermined the case against him.
The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts and placed restrictions on how evidence involving official presidential conduct can be used in criminal cases.
Trump argued that his conviction should therefore be set aside because jurors heard evidence relating to his first term in the White House, including testimony from former White House communications director Hope Hicks.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals had directed Hellerstein to take a closer look at whether the disputed evidence related to acts Trump carried out in his official capacity as president.
Hellerstein, however, has maintained that the conduct at the centre of the hush money case was private. He had twice previously rejected Trump’s attempts to move the case from state to federal court.
CONVICTED, BUT NO JAIL OR FINE
Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump on January 10, 2025, to an unconditional discharge, meaning he received no jail term, fine or probation. The conviction, however, remained on his record.
The sentence came just 10 days before Trump began his second term in the White House.
Trump has also asked a New York state appeals court to overturn the conviction.
Trump faced four criminal cases after leaving office following his first term. The New York hush money case was the only one to go to trial. He pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in all four cases.
– Ends
(With inputs from agencies)
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
