US judge rejects Trump’s bid to switch hush-money case to federal court

United States President Donald Trump has once again lost a bid to transfer his criminal hush-money case from state to federal court, in a bid to have his felony conviction dropped.

On Friday, Judge Alvin Hellerstein declined Trump’s petition for a third time, ruling that the president’s arguments were “neither new nor legally sufficient”.

Trump became the first US president to be convicted of a crime in 2024, when a New York City jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Prosecutors had argued that Trump attempted to conceal hush-money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, to avoid negative attention during his 2016 presidential bid.

Trump, however, has maintained that his conviction should be tossed, given a 2024 Supreme Court decision expanding presidential immunity. But Hellerstein once again rejected that argument.

“Paying hush money to an adult film star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity,” Hellerstein wrote.

Trump’s lawyers have already announced they would appeal, denouncing Hellerstein’s judgement as “baseless and lawless”.

“President Trump will be filing a powerful appeal, and will continue defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn,” a statement from Trump’s team said.