Published August 29, 2026
US President Donald Trump has again lost his attempt to move hush money criminal cases from state to federal court in order to vacate felony convictions.
On Friday, Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump’s petition for the third time, ruling that his claims were “neither novel nor legally sufficient.”
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Trump became the first US president to be convicted in 2024 when a New York City jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Prosecutors had alleged that Trump tried to hide hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels to avoid negative attention during the 2016 presidential election.
But Trump has argued that his conviction should be thrown out in light of a 2024 Supreme Court ruling expanding presidential immunity. But Hellerstein again rejected that argument.
“Paying hush money to adult film stars or covering up embarrassing things is not part of presidential prerogatives,” Hellerstein wrote.
Trump’s lawyers have already announced they will appeal Hellerstein’s ruling, calling it “baseless and lawless.”
“President Trump will file a strong appeal and continue to defeat Democratic weaponization at every turn,” Trump’s team said in a statement.
The lawsuit centers on a $130,000 payment Trump allegedly made through fixer Michael Cohen to buy Daniels’ silence after she claimed she had an affair with a Republican leader during their marriage. President Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels.
Tampering with business records in New York is usually a misdemeanor, but it can be charged as a felony if it involves another crime. In the hush money case, prosecutors alleged that Trump illegally tried to influence the 2016 election, which he ultimately won.
The New York indictment was one of four Trump faced in 2023 during his two terms as president.
The other indictment concerned allegations that President Trump illegally concealed classified documents and tried to undermine the 2020 election, which he lost. Those lawsuits were eventually dropped after Trump was re-elected in 2024.
Of the four indictments, only the New York case went to trial. Although Trump faced jail time or fines for his felony convictions, Judge Juan Machan ultimately granted the Republican leader unconditional release.
This means he will not receive any jail time or financial penalties, but the conviction will remain on his record. The ruling was handed down on January 10, 2025, just days before Trump’s second inauguration.
Mr. Trump has appealed his conviction in the years since his trial, while also trying to move the case to federal court, where he hopes to have the charges dismissed as well.
As part of their appeal, Trump’s lawyers cited the Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision expanding the concept of presidential immunity.
Previously, presidents were protected from prosecution for actions taken within the scope of their constitutional duties. The 2024 decision expanded that scope, giving the president “presumptive immunity” for anything considered “official acts,” an undefined concept.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the hush-money case fell under that exemption because it presented evidence of his first term as president.
Hellerstein had previously rejected that argument. But in November, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered Hellerstein to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
However, the appeals court did not instruct Hellerstein on how to sentence him. In Friday’s decision, Hellerstein rejected a suggestion by the Trump team to simply certify the appeals court’s ruling.
“The federal district court has not certified the clerk,” the judge wrote.
Hellerstein also cited the Supreme Court’s decision, which ruled that Trump’s actions regarding Daniels, even if some of them took place while he was president, were not “official acts” of the presidency.
“There is no way that the discussion of hush money payments to cover up the president’s relationship with Stormy Daniels is an official act. Extramarital affairs and the concealment of extramarital affairs are not within the ‘periphery’ of the president’s official responsibilities,” Hellerstein wrote.
