NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A federal judge on Tuesday swiftly rejected request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, spurning the former president鈥檚 attempt at an end-run around the state court where he was convicted and is set to be sentenced in two weeks.
鈥� just hours after Trump鈥檚 lawyers asked him to weigh the move 鈥� upends the Republican presidential nominee鈥檚 plan to move the case to federal court so that he could seek to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 .
Trump鈥檚 lawyers challenged the decision, filing a notice of appeal late Tuesday in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump and his lawyers 鈥渨ill continue to fight to move this Hoax into federal court where it should be put out of its misery once and for all," his campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement.
Hellerstein, echoing his denial of Trump鈥檚 pretrial bid to move the case, said the defense failed to meet the high burden of proof for changing jurisdiction and that Trump's conviction for falsifying business records involved his personal life, not official actions that the Supreme Court ruled are immune from prosecution.
In a four-page ruling, Hellerstein wrote that nothing about the high court's July 1 ruling affected his previous conclusion that hush money payments at issue in Trump鈥檚 case 鈥渨ere private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority.鈥�
Hellerstein sidestepped a defense complaint that Trump's state court trial had been plagued by 鈥渂ias, conflicts of interest, and appearances of impropriety," writing that he 鈥渄oes not have jurisdiction to hear Mr. Trump鈥檚 arguments concerning the propriety of the New York trial.鈥�
The Manhattan district attorney鈥檚 office, which prosecuted Trump's case, declined comment. Earlier Tuesday, , Juan M. Merchan, objecting to Trump鈥檚 effort to delay post-trial decisions in the case while he was seeking to have the U.S. District Court in Manhattan step in.
Merchan is expected to rule soon on two key defense requests: Trump鈥檚 call for the judge to delay his Sept. 18 sentencing until after the November election, and his request that the judge in the wake of the .
Merchan has said he will rule Sept. 16 on Trump鈥檚 motion to overturn the verdict. His decision on delaying sentencing has been expected in the coming days.
Trump was of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, whose affair allegations threatened to disrupt his 2016 presidential run. Trump has denied her claim and said he did nothing wrong. His lawyers contend the case was tainted by violations of Trump's constitutional rights and that the verdict is vitiated by the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation or a fine.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers contend that sentencing Trump as scheduled, just two days after Merchan鈥檚 expected immunity decision, wouldn't give him enough time to weigh next steps, including a possible appeal, if the judge rules to uphold the verdict.
They also argued a Sept. 18 sentencing, about seven weeks before Election Day, would be election interference. In a court filing last week, they raised the specter that Trump could be sent to jail just as early voting is getting underway.
Prosecutors have not staked a position on whether to delay sentencing, deferring to Merchan on an 鈥渁ppropriate post-trial schedule.鈥� In their letter Tuesday, they said they were open to a schedule that allows 鈥渁dequate time鈥� to adjudicate Trump鈥檚 motion to overturn the verdict while also sentencing him 鈥渨ithout unreasonable delay.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 lawyers first asked the federal court to intervene last week, but their paperwork was kicked back because they hadn鈥檛 gotten the required clearance from Hellerstein to file it. Hours after they submitted papers Tuesday requesting Hellerstein's permission to proceed, he issued his ruling denying it.
Before dissecting Trump's immunity claims, Hellerstein dispatched quickly of the defense's oft-repeated claims that Merchan had treated Trump unfairly 鈥� subjecting him to a gag order and refusing to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court ruled 鈥� because Merchan鈥檚 daughter is a Democratic political consultant.
Merchan last month , saying Trump鈥檚 demand was a rehash 鈥渞ife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims鈥� about his ability to remain impartial. A
鈥淚t would be highly improper for this Court to evaluate the issues of bias, unfairness or error in the state trial,鈥� Hellerstein wrote. 鈥淭hose are issues for the state appellate courts.鈥�
Instead, he noted, Trump can pursue a state appeal or seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court, whose immunity ruling reins in prosecutions of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors in pointing to official acts as evidence that a president鈥檚 unofficial actions were illegal.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers instead of waiting for the Supreme Court鈥檚 presidential immunity decision, and that prosecutors erred by showing jurors evidence that should not have been allowed under the ruling, such as former White House staffers describing how Trump reacted to news coverage of the hush money deal and tweets he sent while president in 2018.
Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
