Jim Watson | AFP | images
Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s ruling was the second time he denied Trump’s request to have his criminal case heard in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Hellerstein said Trump had waited too long after his May 2024 conviction to request that the case be moved to federal court.
Later Friday, Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal of Hellerstein’s ruling, which would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records offenses in state Supreme Court in Manhattan related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about her claims that she had sexual relations with him. He was sentenced to unconditional freedom in January 2025, shortly before being sworn in for a second non-consecutive term in the White House.
Trump sought impeachment as part of a strategy to overturn his conviction, arguing that evidence allowed to be presented at trial included conversations and observations by presidential aides, which his lawyers should have excluded because they related to official conduct.
“There is no way that discussions about paying money to cover up the president’s relationship with Stormy Daniels can be an official act,” Hellerstein wrote.
In July, another Manhattan federal court judge ordered the release of about $5.8 million to writer E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a civil trial verdict that held Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. In April, a federal appeals court refused to reconsider a decision upholding another $83.3 million civil judgment in Carroll’s favor against Trump for defaming her.
In April, a federal judge dismissed Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch, while allowing him to amend his civil suit.
Hellerstein, in his ruling Friday, also said Trump had no legal grounds to withdraw the case from state court after being convicted and sentenced.
“You cannot play one court against another; you cannot seek victory in one court and then, when it becomes clear that the court will rule against you, try to move your case to another court,” Hellerstein said in his ruling.
Hellerstein also wrote that the evidence presented at trial did not violate presidential immunity and that Trump had not proven that he was prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for conduct related to his time as president.
“Paying money to silence an adult film star or covering up a
a shame are not included in presidential immunity,” Hellerstein said.
Trump is separately appealing his conviction in the New York state appeals court system.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team, in a statement about Hellerstein’s ruling, said: “The Supreme Court’s landmark decision on immunity, the federal and New York state constitutions, and other established legal precedents demand that the witch hunt perpetrated by the Manhattan district attorney be removed to federal court, and immediately overturned and dismissed.”
“President Trump already won this case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and today’s baseless and illegal decision contradicts that correct ruling,” the spokesperson said. “President Trump will deliver a powerful appeal and continue to defeat Democrats’ gun use every step of the way.”
