Donald Trump’s second crack at getting his Manhattan hush-money case moved to federal court and having it tossed on immunity grounds failed Tuesday .....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
In a four-page order declining to intervene in the case, Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote it would be “highly improper” of him to weigh Trump’s latest arguments that he didn’t get a fair trial in a state court, and that his lawyers should direct them to a state appeals court.
The judge was unmoved by the former president’s remaining argument to get the case moved — that the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling shielding presidents’ “official acts ” from criminal liability protected him from prosecution.
Hellerstein said he felt no differently than when he first rejected that position in July 2023 . At that time, the judge wrote the Manhattan district attorney’s evidence alleging Trump secretly reimbursed his former fixer Michael Cohen for paying a porn star to keep quiet about an alleged extramarital tryst ahead of the 2016 election overwhelmingly suggested the matter was “purely a personal item. ”
“ Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority, ” Hellerstein wrote Tuesday.
The effort was one of several irons the Republican presidential nominee has in the fire to stop his sentencing from going forward on Sept. 18. Trump had also asked Hellerstein to ensure the sentencing wouldn’t go forward while he fought to move the case.
On Sept. 16, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is set to rule on Trump’s outstanding motion to vacate his felony convictions for falsifying New York business records, and toss the underlying indictment based on the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
He’s expected to respond this week to Trump’s request to postpone sentencing until after the election to give him time to appeal if Merchan declines to overturn his conviction. The former president has also alleged the sentencing going forward would constitute “election interference.”
The 34 felonies Trump was convicted of May 30 carry up to four years in prison, a term of probation, or possible fines. He has also asked Merchan to block prosecutors from filing their punishment recommendations….CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLE>>>
