Trump loses again in bid to erase his hush money conviction

Key Points:

• U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff Hellerstein has for the third time denied former President Donald Trump's request to move his New York criminal case to federal court, maintaining jurisdiction in the state court where Trump was tried and convicted.
• Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, becoming the first former and current U.S. president to be convicted of a crime; he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, preserving the conviction but imposing no punishment.
• Trump's legal team criticized Hellerstein's ruling as "baseless and lawless" and announced plans to appeal, arguing that Supreme Court precedent and constitutional protections require the case to be moved to federal court and dismissed.
• Hellerstein criticized Trump's legal strategy, noting that the decision to first seek dismissal in state court rather than immediately removing the case to federal court was a "strategic decision" that precludes a second attempt to move the case, describing it as seeking "two bites at the apple."
• The federal appeals court had previously instructed Hellerstein to reconsider the denial, focusing on whether the case involved official acts covered by presidential immunity and whether Trump had diligently pursued removal, but the judge ultimately upheld his ruling against federal jurisdiction.