A federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday rejected an effort by former President Donald Trump to remove his criminal hush money case to the federal courts, saying there is “nothing” in the Supreme Court‘s recent immunity decision that should allow for such a move.
“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,” wrote U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, a Bill Clinton appointee who denied Trump’s effort to move the case to federal court before it was adjudicated.
Toward the end of May, a jury convicted the former president on 34 counts of falsifying the Trump Organization’s record to cover up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who threatened to go public with her alleged affair with him. Judge Juan Merchan, a state judge, is weighing whether to move forward with a Sept. 18 sentencing after Trump asked for a delay until following the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Hellerstein noted in his four-page decision Tuesday evening that “hush-money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority,” adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear arguments about the propriety of Merchan’s trial.
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