Former President Donald Trump asked a federal court late Thursday to intervene in his hush money criminal case, seeking to toss his conviction and indefinitely delay sentencing scheduled for next month.
Trump’s lawyers filed a request with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take control of the New York City criminal case. They argue the state-level prosecution violated Trump’s constitutional rights and conflicts with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
In May, Trump was convicted in state court in Manhattan on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment to suppress affair allegations that threatened his 2016 presidential campaign.
A federal judge previously rejected Trump’s attempt to move the case to federal court last year, allowing the historic trial to proceed in state court.
Thursday’s filing argues that moving the case to federal court post-conviction will provide an “unbiased forum, free from local hostilities” to address these issues. If successful, Trump’s lawyers plan to seek the verdict’s reversal and case dismissal.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” wrote Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case, has not yet commented on the filing.
This latest legal maneuver comes as Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, faces multiple legal challenges while campaigning for the 2024 election.
AP
