Former President Donald Trump has made a significant legal move by asking a federal court to intervene in his hush money criminal case. The request aims to overturn his conviction and delay his upcoming sentencing, which is currently scheduled for next month.
Trump's legal team has filed a petition with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, arguing that the state-level prosecution of the case violated Trump's constitutional rights. They also contend that the prosecution went against a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
In May, Trump was convicted in a Manhattan state court on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a payment made to suppress affair allegations that could have impacted his 2016 presidential campaign.
Despite a previous unsuccessful attempt to move the case to federal court last year, a federal judge allowed the trial to proceed in state court. Trump's lawyers now seek to transfer the case to federal jurisdiction following the recent conviction, citing the need for an impartial forum to address the legal issues at hand.
If the case is successfully moved to federal court, Trump's legal team plans to pursue the overturning of the verdict and the dismissal of the case altogether.
In their filing, Trump's lawyers emphasized the potential harm the ongoing legal proceedings could cause to the former president, who is a prominent figure in the 2024 Presidential election race. They argue that a federal court would provide a fairer environment, free from local biases and hostilities.
The Manhattan district attorney's office, which handled the prosecution of the case, has not yet provided a comment on Trump's latest legal maneuver.
