US Court Rejects Trump’s Request to Vacate His Conviction in the “Hush Money” Case - Sarmad
A U.S. federal judge, for the third time in a row, rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to vacate his conviction in the hush-money case, known as the “buying silence” payments, thereby upholding the judgment against him and dismissing his attempts to transfer the case from state court to federal court or to dismiss the charges based on presidential immunity.
In his new ruling, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein reaffirmed his previous position, noting that the reasons Trump provided to justify renewing his request “are not new and are not legally sufficient.”
The judge added in the reasoning behind his decision that Trump “failed to demonstrate a valid reason or show sufficient legal merit” to justify the request, according to The Associated Press.
This marks the third time Judge Hellerstein has blocked Trump’s efforts to move the case from the New York state court that tried and convicted him to the federal court in Manhattan, in a legal bid to drop the charges or overturn the conviction.
As in previous instances, Trump intends to appeal the decision, according to a spokesperson for his legal team who described Hellerstein’s ruling as “lacking legal basis and contrary to law.”
The conviction, handed down in May 2024 during the interregnum between Trump’s two presidential terms, made him the first former (and now current) U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
Trump was found guilty in May 2024 of 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records concerning a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The conviction stems from Trump’s alleged attempt to conceal payments reimbursed to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who had previously paid money to the adult film actress in the final days of the 2016 election campaign to buy her silence regarding an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
The president-elect denied all wrongdoing, pleading not guilty, and argued that the case was an attempt to undermine his 2024 presidential campaign.
