A federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s effort to move the hush money case to federal court and delay his felony sentencing.
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump had not satisfied the burden of proof required for a federal court to take control of the case from the state court where it was tried.
The strategy for Trump was to get the case moved to federal court, and then argue that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling means that his conviction must be overturned.
Judge Merchan is set to hear two Trump motions, one of which is that he has immunity and to delay his sentencing until after the November election.
Merchan is likely to deny both of these motions, especially the effort to delay sentencing until after the election. Convicted felons don’t get special treatment under the law because they are running for president.
Trump does not want voters going to the polls weighing whether or not to send a convicted felon back to the White House.
While the sentencing will not sway those who are committed to Trump, it could harm him with key battleground state Independents. In a close election, a few thousand votes could swing a state and make a candidate the next president.
In 2024, everything is going wrong for Trump.
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