Delaying tactics Trump wants hush money case transferred to federal court
The Republican presidential candidate's lawyers hope that their request will delay the announcement of the sentence - and ultimately overturn their client's conviction.
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- Donald Trump has asked a federal court to intervene in his fraud case concerning hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
- The former US president's move is aimed at overturning his conviction and delaying the sentencing announced for September.
Former US President Donald Trump has asked a federal court to intervene in his fraud case concerning hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. The 78-year-old's move is aimed at overturning his conviction and delaying the sentencing announced for September until then.
Trump's lawyers asked the Manhattan District Court on Thursday evening (local time) to take over the New York proceedings. Prosecution at state level violates the constitutional rights of the Republican presidential candidate and runs counter to the US Supreme Court's fundamental ruling on presidential immunity.
Trump was found guilty in Manhattan in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to bury allegations of an extramarital affair that threatened to overshadow his 2016 presidential campaign. An earlier attempt by Trump to elevate the case to federal level was shot down by a federal judge last year.
"Unbiased forum"
Trump's lawyers argued in their new motion that moving the case to federal court would give Trump "an unbiased forum, free from local animosity". If the motion is granted, they will seek to have the conviction vacated and the case dismissed. "The ongoing litigation will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump - the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election - and to voters far beyond Manhattan," Trump's attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.
The Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, had ruled that ex-presidents enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts during their time in the White House, but not for other acts. However, the acts Trump is accused of in the hush-money lawsuit predate his presidency.