Late on Thursday, a court of appeals in the United States declined to intervene in a lower court’s decision to keep Donald Trump’s previously resolved criminal case in state court. The case was about hush money paid to an adult film star. This decision dealt another blow to the former president of the United States’ attempt to shift the case to federal court.
Trump submitted a request to the United States District Judge Alvin Hellerstein on August 29, nearly three months after he was found guilty in the very first criminal trial of a United States President. He said that the trial violated his constitutional rights and requested that the case be transferred from the New York state court in Manhattan to the federal court.
Trump, who was the Republican nominee for president in the election that took place on November 5th, stated that he would seek the federal court to dismiss the case entirely if it were moved. This is due to the fact that jurors at the trial saw proof of his official acts as president.
He claimed that this was a violation of the landmark decision by the US Supreme Court, which stated that presidents enjoy complete immunity from prosecution for official activities.
Hellerstein rejected that motion on September 3rd, citing the fact that the case involved “private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority.” Trump submitted a request to the second circuit court of appeals in the United States, requesting that the decision be placed on hold while the court deliberated on the case’s merits.
A panel of three judges from the second circuit court of appeals rejected Trump’s motion, citing Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to postpone the date of Trump’s sentence from September 18 to November 26. During his writing, Merchan expressed his desire to steer clear of the incorrect assumption of a political motivation.
For the time being, Merchan will make a decision on November 12 regarding whether or not the case ought to be dropped due to the highest court’s decision regarding immunity. This decision originated from a separate federal criminal case that Trump is facing regarding his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Trump has entered a plea of not guilty in that case, despite the fact that he is still facing a number of legal issues.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, paid Stormy Daniels, an adult film actor and producer, $130,000 in exchange for her silence regarding a sexual encounter she claims she had with Trump prior to the 2016 election. On May 30, a jury in the New York state case found Trump guilty of felony falsification of business records in order to conceal the payment. Despite the fact that he has vowed to appeal his conviction once he is imprisoned, Trump has denied having sexual relations with Daniels.