Judge set to hear arguments as court gives Trump another shot at nixing hush money conviction

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge is set to hear arguments Wednesday after an appeals court directed him to take a fresh look at President Donald Trump’s bid to erase his hush money conviction.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November ordered U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to reconsider his decision to keep the case in state court instead of moving it to federal court, where Trump can seek to have it thrown out on presidential immunity grounds.

A three-judge panel ruled that Hellerstein erred by failing to consider “important issues relevant” to Trump’s request to move the New York case to federal court. They said they “express no view” on how he should rule.

Trump, a Republican, is not expected to attend Wednesday’s arguments in federal court in New York City, which were preceded by lengthy written submissions from Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case and wants it to remain in state court.

Hellerstein, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, has twice denied Trump’s requests to move the case.

The first was after Trump’s March 2023 indictment; the second followed Trump’s May 2024 conviction and a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that presidents and former presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts.

In the later ruling, at issue in the 2nd Circuit decision, Hellerstein said Trump’s lawyers had failed to meet the high burden of proof for changing jurisdiction and that Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records involved his personal life, not official actions that the Supreme Court ruled are immune from prosecution.

The 2nd Circuit panel said Hellerstein’s ruling, which echoed his previous denial, “did not consider whether certain evidence admitted during the state court trial relates to immunized official acts or, if so, whether evidentiary immunity transformed” the hush money case into one that relates to official acts.

The three judges said Hellerstein should closely review evidence that Trump claims relate to official acts.

If Hellerstein finds the prosecution relied on evidence of official acts, the judges said, he should weigh whether Trump can argue those actions were taken as part of his White House duties, whether Trump “diligently sought” to have the case moved to federal court and whether the case can even be moved to federal court now that Trump has been convicted and sentenced in state court.

Trump was convicted in May 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, whose allegations of an affair with Trump threatened to upend his 2016 presidential campaign. He was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction intact but sparing him any punishment.

Trump denies Daniels’ claim and said he did nothing wrong. He has asked a state appellate court to overturn the conviction.