Washington, August 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A US federal judge has again rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to move his New York hush money case from state court to federal court, dealing another setback to his efforts to challenge his criminal conviction.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the grounds cited by Trump in renewing his request were “neither new nor legally sufficient”.
Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump first sought to transfer the case to federal court in May 2023. Hellerstein rejected the request in July that year, finding that the conduct at issue was personal rather than connected to Trump’s official duties as President, reports Xinhua news agency.
The judge rejected Trump’s request again in September 2024, after his conviction and the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling that former presidents have immunity from federal criminal prosecution for certain official acts carried out while in office.
In Friday’s ruling, Hellerstein maintained that the hush money case involved Trump’s personal conduct rather than official presidential acts.
“Paying hush money to an adult film star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity,” Hellerstein wrote.
Trump’s legal team said it would appeal the decision, with a spokesperson describing the ruling as “baseless and lawless”.
New York Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the case, sentenced Trump in January 2025 to an unconditional discharge. The sentence means Trump was not ordered to pay a fine or serve probation, but the judgment formally classified him as a convicted felon, subject to the outcome of his appeals.
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