Overview
- U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein denied President Trump’s renewed removal request on Friday, saying the reasons were “neither new nor legally sufficient” and that Trump had not shown required diligence.
- Hellerstein held that the conduct at issue — payments and bookkeeping tied to a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels — was private and not an “official act” covered by presidential immunity.
- The ruling leaves intact the May 2024 jury verdict that convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and preserves Judge Juan Merchan’s January 10, 2025 unconditional discharge sentence.
- The judge criticized the defense’s timing, noting lawyers first sought relief in state court and only later asked the federal court to intervene, a choice Hellerstein called a strategic delay that undercuts removal claims.
- Trump’s team filed a federal notice of appeal and continues parallel state appellate challenges, keeping both routes open while the decision tightens the circumstances in which federal courts will displace state prosecutions.