NEW YORK: Donald Trump’s lawyers pushed on Monday (Oct 14) to transfer to federal court the case in which he was convicted in a New York state court on charges involving covering up hush money paid to a porn star, a move that would give him the ability to end the prosecution if he regains the presidency.
His lawyers renewed the request in a brief filed with the Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals as they appealed US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s Sep 3 ruling rejecting the shift to federal court. Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying documents.
In their brief, Trump’s lawyers cited the US Supreme Court’s Jul 1 decision that former president’s cannot be prosecuted for official actions taken in office. In the hush money case, they said, jurors had improperly seen evidence of Trump’s official acts as president.
His lawyers said the state charges intruded on the authority of the presidency under the US Constitution.
Trump is the Republican candidate facing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov 5 election. If he wins, he could seek to pardon himself for any federal crime or have his new Justice Department leadership dismiss any criminal cases pending against him in federal court. State criminal charges are beyond the reach of presidential pardon authority or Justice Department action.
