A federal judge on Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to overturn his New York hush money conviction by moving the case to federal court, marking the third time U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein has denied the request since Trump’s conviction in May 2024.
Judge Hellerstein ruled that Trump’s arguments were “neither new nor legally sufficient” and that the president waited too long after his conviction and subsequent sentencing to seek removal of the case from state court. Trump was sentenced in January 2025 to an unconditional discharge—no jail time or fine—in the historic case that made him the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony.
Trump had sought to move the case to federal court partly to revive presidential immunity arguments after the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States, which held that presidents have presumptive immunity for official acts but not unofficial ones. In his ruling, Hellerstein was emphatic that hush money payments to cover up an alleged affair could never qualify as official presidential conduct.
“There is no way that discussions regarding hush money payments to cover up the president’s relations with Stormy Daniels could be an official act,” Hellerstein wrote. “An affair, or a cover-up of an affair, is not within the ‘outer perimeter’ of the president’s official responsibilities.”
Trump’s legal team has signaled they will appeal Hellerstein’s decision to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, continuing a years-long legal battle over the conviction. In a statement, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team called the ruling “baseless and lawless,” arguing that the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and constitutional precedent “mandate that the Witch Hunt perpetrated by the Manhattan DA be removed to federal court, and immediately overturned and dismissed.”
The case stems from Trump’s alleged orchestration of a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, which Trump denied making. A jury found in May 2024 that Trump falsified business records to conceal the payment, convicting him on all 34 felony counts. Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who made the actual payment, later pleaded guilty to related campaign finance violations.
Hellerstein also rejected Trump’s argument that he could not have committed crimes related to conduct that preceded his presidency. Trump’s alleged conduct with Daniels occurred in 2006, and the hush money payment and falsification of records took place in 2016 and 2017—before his first term began. “He cannot play one court against another; he cannot seek victory in one court, and then, when it becomes apparent that the court will rule against him, seek to remove his case to another court,” Hellerstein wrote.
A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit had previously ordered Hellerstein to reconsider the removal request in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. However, Hellerstein found that even under that new standard, removal was not appropriate after Trump had already been convicted and sentenced. “The Second Circuit asks if removal is available at this stage of a criminal case, after a federal officer defendant has been convicted, sentenced, judgment entered, and appeal noticed. I hold that it is not available,” he stated.
Moving the case to federal court would have given Trump a clearer path to appeal to higher courts. Trump is separately appealing his conviction through New York’s state appeals court system. The ruling is the latest legal setback for Trump since taking office in January 2025, following civil judgments against him and dismissals of other legal actions he initiated.
Sources
- CNBC — Judge Hellerstein’s August 28, 2026 ruling rejecting Trump’s third removal attempt, details of the hush money case and sentencing.
- Courthouse News — Hellerstein’s written decision, Trump’s delay in seeking removal, the Second Circuit’s prior order for reconsideration, and analysis of the presidential immunity argument.
- Law.com New York Law Journal — Confirmation of Hellerstein’s August 28, 2026 decision and Trump’s plan to appeal.
- Supreme Court — July 1, 2024 Trump v. United States decision establishing presidential immunity for official acts only.
