NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to move his New York hush money case into federal court, dealing another setback to his effort to overturn his 2024 criminal conviction.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled that Trump had not presented sufficient grounds for transferring the case from New York state court to the federal system. The decision leaves Trump’s conviction intact while he continues a separate appeal through the state courts.
Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to a $130,000 payment made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors said business records were falsified to conceal reimbursements for the payment. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
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Trump’s lawyers had sought to move the case into federal court and argued that the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling on presidential immunity affected the validity of his conviction.
That Supreme Court decision established broad immunity from criminal prosecution for presidents when they perform official acts, while providing no immunity for unofficial conduct.
Hellerstein rejected the argument that the conduct at the center of the hush money case qualified for such protection.
In his decision, the judge said Trump’s latest grounds for seeking removal of the case were neither new nor legally sufficient and concluded that the president had failed to establish good cause for the request.
The ruling followed an order from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directing Hellerstein to reconsider Trump’s request in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision.
Hellerstein had previously rejected Trump’s efforts to move the prosecution into federal court. Friday’s ruling again keeps the case under the authority of New York’s state court system.
Trump’s legal team has argued that evidence presented during his trial included material related to his time in the White House that should have been excluded under the Supreme Court’s immunity standard.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has opposed Trump’s attempts to overturn the conviction.
Trump was sentenced in January 2025 to an unconditional discharge, meaning he received no jail time, probation, or fine. The sentence allowed the conviction to remain on his record without imposing additional punishment as he prepared to return to the White House for his second term.
The verdict made Trump the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime. He later returned to office after winning the 2024 presidential election.
Trump continues to challenge the conviction through New York’s appellate courts, meaning Friday’s federal ruling does not end his broader effort to have the case overturned.
His lawyers have indicated they intend to continue appealing the federal-court decision as well.
The ruling comes as Trump faces a series of legal and political battles during his second term, including disputes over executive authority and election rules ahead of the November midterm elections.
