President Donald Trump waited "too long" after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision on presidential immunity to try and move his criminal hush money case into federal court, a federal judge said Wednesday, though he did not make a final decision on the matter.
Trump was convicted May 30, 2024, of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush payment to adult actress Stormy Daniels. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump was entitled to presumptive immunity for acts related to his official duties.
Based on that opinion, Trump first asked the trial judge, New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, to vacate the conviction, then opted to ask for removal to federal court where Trump could try to overturn it.
The request, in late August, came 58 days after the Supreme Court decision -- beyond the customary 30-day grace period.
"It seems that you're waiting too long," U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said during a hearing Wednesday. "You didn't have to go through a motion before Judge Merchan."
An attorney for Trump, Jeff Wall, argued it was "reasonable" to give Merchan a chance to consider the matter first or else the president would have risked showing "disrespect" to the trial judge. "It is what any sensible litigant would do," Wall said.
Hellerstein, however, appeared unmoved.
"Whether Judge Merchan would have been pleased or displeased is totally irrelevant," he said. "You intended to litigate in state court. Only when you sensed disappointment did you revert to an effort to have a federal forum."
Hellerstein also asked whether moving the case to federal court is appropriate when there has already been a verdict, sentencing and a pending appeal in state court.
"If there is nothing more for a district court judge to do other than to certify what the state court has done, is that appropriate?" Hellerstein asked.
Wall conceded there would be nothing for Hellerstein to do other than adopt the state court judgment and shuffle the case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"On we go to the 2nd Circuit," Wall said. "You would be done with this in a day."
But Hellerstein also appeared unmoved by that part of Trump's argument.
"The only thing you want me to do is adopt the New York Supreme Court judgment as mine. In conscience I can't do that," Hellerstein said.
Juan Merchan sentenced Trump last year to an unconditional discharge without prison, fines or probation. Prosecutors have argued that the "advanced stage" of the case weighs against moving it into federal court.
Trump was found guilty of orchestrating an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by directing his personal lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, to pay $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her from publicly revealing a long-denied sexual encounter with Trump.
Trump is separately pursuing an appeal through the state court system.
