US judge rejects Trump’s bid to switch hush-money case to federal court
A US judge has rejected Donald Trump's latest attempt to move his hush-money criminal conviction from state to federal court. The judge ruled that the former president's arguments regarding presidential immunity were legally insufficient.
Why it matters
This decision maintains the integrity of the state-level conviction and sets a precedent regarding the limits of presidential immunity in personal criminal matters.
The US president has sought to overturn his criminal conviction for falsifying business records, citing presidential immunity.
x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info Donald Trump is the first US president to be convicted of a crime [File: Kylie Cooper/Reuters] By The Associated Press Published On 29 Aug 2026 29 Aug 2026 United States President Donald Trump has once again lost a bid to transfer his criminal hush-money case from state to federal court, in a bid to have his felony conviction dropped.
On Friday, Judge Alvin Hellerstein declined Trump’s petition for a third time, ruling that the president’s arguments were “neither new nor legally sufficient”.
Trump became the first US president to be convicted of a crime in 2024, when a New York City jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
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