Trump loses longshot bid to transfer NYC hush money case to federal court

President Donald Trump sought to erase his New York state criminal trial convictions by remanding the case to a federal court, where he could revive previously dismissed immunity claims.MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York federal judge Friday denied President Donald Trump’s hail Mary motion to have his criminal convictions in the so-called “hush money” case transferred from New York state court to Manhattan federal court.Finding that Trump failed to show good cause to move for leave to file a notice of removal, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein struck down Trump’s motion to have the case transferred to federal jurisdiction.Hellerstein presided over multiple unsuccessful attempts by Trump to remove the case from New York County Supreme Court to the Southern District of New York, where he would be able to potentially overturn his convictions for falsifying business records tied to payments made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels during the runup to the 2016 presidential election.Moving the case to Manhattan federal court would give the president a path to the Second Circuit and then up to the U.S. Supreme Court.During oral arguments in February, Hellerstein telegraphed he was unlikely to grant Trump a transfer of the case.“Here, there’s nothing for me to do, and I’m not sure that saying ‘here’s the judgment, go appeal it’ is sufficient,” the Bill Clinton appointee told Trump’s attorneys six months ago.A three-judge panel for the Second Circuit sent the case back to Hellerstein, finding in its November 2025 ruling that Hellerstein should address whether Trump’s conviction ran afoul of the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling for broad presidential immunity.Hellerstein denied Trump’s motion in 2023 to transfer the case to federal court before it went to trial, contending the state indictment charges Trump with acts done within his official capacity as president, as he was in office when he was accused of falsifying business records about the payments to Daniels and Playboy Playmate model Karen McDougal, who also reportedly claimed to have an affair with the president.A jury found in 2024 Trump orchestrated his former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen to pay $130,000 to Daniels, who Trump was concerned would share details from their 2006 sexual encounter at an inopportune time during the election.When repaying Cohen, Trump disguised the payments as standard legal fees, sometimes signing those illicit checks from the Oval Office during his first presidential term, witnesses testified.Ten days before Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge, cementing his status as a convicted felon in New York City but sparing the then-president-elect from having to serve any tangible punishment like community service or a fine.After a 2018 falling out with Trump, Cohen pleaded guilty in New York federal court to eight criminal counts that implicated Trump, then in his first term in office, in violations of campaign-finance law in connection with hush money payments.Cohen has recently claimed that New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “compelled and coerced” him to remit the testimony they desired in the criminal case, which Trump has interpreted as a broad repudiation of the entire prosecution.“They weaponized a lot of people, and I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,” Trump told Cohen on his radio show, their first public conversation since their falling out.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads