Trump's hush money case is back in court. These judges could decide what happens next

Independent

a day ago

The appeals process begins in earnest on Wednesday, after a New York City jury last year convicted Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a scheme to silence an adult film star, whose story about having sex with Trump threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.
That unanimous conviction on May 30 — and a judge's sentencing on January 10 that preserved the historic verdict — ensured that Trump would return to the White House as the first-ever criminally convicted president.
The conviction carried no consequences for the president. Still, it left an indelible stain he has so far failed to remove despite successfully fighting off federal indictments that consumed his 2024 campaign.
But his legal battle isn't over.
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court in Manhattan will hear oral arguments as his attorneys attempt to transfer the case from New York criminal court to federal jurisdiction, a process known as 'removal.'
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg opposes the move, arguing such a case cannot be removed to federal court after a conviction.
But attorneys for the president claim that his 'unprecedented prosecution 'belongs there. If the case is moved to federal court, Justice Department lawyers could theoretically dismiss it.
In the weeks leading up to the 2016 election, Trump's then-attorney, Michael Cohen, paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 for the rights to her story, one of several so-called hush money schemes the president arranged with tabloid publishers to prevent embarrassing stories from being published anywhere.
Trump then reimbursed Cohen in a series of checks, some of which were cut from the White House.
Those reimbursements were falsely recorded in accounting records as 'legal expenses,' fulfilling what prosecutors called a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election unlawfully.
A weeks-long trial in Manhattan criminal court last year included blockbuster testimony from Cohen, Daniels, White House aides, and Trump's allies. At the same time, emails, phone records, text messages, invoices, checks with Trump's Sharpie-inked signature, and other documents — including a handwritten note from his accountants that outlined the math for Cohen's checks — gave jurors the paper trail.
Days before Trump's inauguration, and more than seven months after the jury's decision, New York Justice Juan Merchan handed Trump a sentence that preserved the verdict without any criminal consequences.
Manhattan prosecutors and Judge Merchan agreed that the only remaining option for the conclusion of the case — navigating a landmark Supreme Court decision on 'immunity' and the potential interference with his second term — meant abandoning a typical sentence of jail, fines or probation.
'The only lawful sentence' that remained for Trump's crimes is that of an 'unconditional discharge,' Merchan told Trump during his sentencing hearing on January 10.
Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing. His attorneys, whom the president has appointed to top roles at the Department of Justice, argued that certain evidence used at trial should have been withheld from jurors under the Supreme Court's 'immunity' decision, which shields the president from criminal prosecution for 'official' acts in office.
However, those arguments were rejected by Judge Merchan, the New York appeals court, and the Supreme Court, which stated that Trump's challenges to 'alleged evidentiary violations' could be addressed through the normal course of appeal.
Meanwhile, Trump's long-simmering fight to move the case entirely out of the hands of state courts will be heard before a panel of federal appeals court judges.
The president has hired the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell to support his federal appeal.
Last month, Justice Department lawyers filed a supporting brief in the case, arguing that the judges should throw it out entirely.
Trump is simultaneously appealing an $83 million verdict in a defamation case from E. Jean Carroll as well as a massive judgment against him in a sprawling civil fraud case, with interest growing to more than half a billion dollars owed to the state of New York after the president and his top associates defrauded banks and investors to benefit his real-estate empire.