Trump asks federal court to intervene in hush money case in bid to toss conviction, delay sentencing
NEW YORK — Donald Trump asked a federal court Thursday night to intervene in his hush-money case, hoping to overturn his conviction and indefinitely delay his sentencing, which is scheduled for next month.
The former president’s lawyers asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take over the criminal case in New York City, arguing that the state-level prosecution violated Trump’s constitutional rights and ran counter to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
Trump was convicted in May in a Manhattan court of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a pay-to-bury scheme, allegations that threatened to cloud his 2016 presidential bid.
A federal judge last year rejected Trump’s earlier attempt to move the case to federal court, clearing the way for Trump’s historic trial in state court.
In Thursday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers said that moving the case to federal court after his May 30 sentencing would give him an “impartial forum, free from local hostilities” to address those issues. If the case is moved to federal court, Trump’s lawyers wrote, they would then seek to have the verdict overturned and the case dismissed.
βThe ongoing litigation will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump β the leading candidate for the 2024 presidential election β and to voters far beyond Manhattan,β wrote Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.
A request for comment was left with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case.