Exclusive: Trump Argues Stormy Daniels Case ‘Belongs in Federal Court’ Rather Than Hostile Manhattan Venue Desired by Alvin Bragg

President Trump’s argument that the hush money case against him prosecuted by Manhattan’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, “belongs in federal court” could amount to a significant step in the effort to undo the 47th president’s status as a convicted felon. The Sun is the first to report on legal filing, now on the docket at the Southern District of New York.The brief advocating for a federal venue was filed to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, 92, who is also presiding over the prosecution of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. Judge Hellerstein, an appointee of President Clinton, has previously taken the position that the prosecution stemming from payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels belongs in state court, where it was tried. Mr. Trump contends that “removal is plainly available even though President Trump has been sentenced by the state trial court.” That sentencing came from the presiding New York judge, Juan Merchan, who imposed only an “unconditional discharge” — meaning no further punishment — on Mr. Trump. Judge Merchan, though, presided over the trial where Mr. Trump was convicted on all 34 counts.Mr. Trump has long sought what he calls an “unbiased forum, free from local hostilities.” That’s what the mechanism of removal, which can be traced to the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Removal Act of 1875, was intended to do. The mechanism came of age during Reconstruction as a means of guaranteeing fair trials in the South. Law allows for removal when a federal officer can show that the prosecution stems from “any act under color” of federal office.The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, during a press conference at New York, April 4, 2023. AP/John Minchillo, fileMr. Trump has long alleged that Judge Merchan, who refused to recuse himself and imposed a gag order on Mr. Trump, is biased. In 2020, before the case began, the judge donated small sums to Democratic candidates, including then-Candidate Biden. His adult daughter, Loren, worked at a consulting firm whose clients included Vice President Harris. Mr. Trump called him “psychotic” and “corrupt.” In 2024 Judge Hellerstein rejected Mr. Trump’s request for removal, ruling that “Nothing” affected his “conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority.” Judge Merchan reached the same conclusion when Mr. Trump tried to dismiss the case on the basis of the Supreme Court’s ruling inTrump v. United States that unofficial presidential acts are presumptively immune. The question returns to Judge Hellerstein after a panel of the Second United States Appeals Circuit ordered him to reconsider because he did not previously “consider whether certain evidence admitted during the state court trial relates to immunized official acts or, if so, whether evidentiary immunity transformed the state’s case into one that relates to acts under color of the presidency.”The circuit riders decided to “leave it to the able and experienced District Judge to decide whether to solicit further briefing from the parties or hold a hearing to help resolve these issues. We express no view and ‘neither rule nor imply’ that the District Court should resolve Trump’s motion … in any particular way.” Mr. Bragg has already submitted his case for why Mr. Hellerstein got it right the last time he weighed the issues of venue.Now Mr. Trump argues that “this case presents federal questions of enormous importance not just for President Trump himself, but for the institution of the Presidency.” He insists that “this unprecedented case must be removed to federal court,” even though at first blush the $130,000 in payments Mr. Trump made to Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, appear quintessentially personal. Ms. Clifford claims that the two had asexual encounter at a Lake Tahoe golf club in 2006. Mr. Trump denies that, and has insisted that the payments are best understood as legal fees processed by his erstwhile attorney, Michael Cohen. Judge Merchan ruled, though, that the jury could convict Mr. Trump of a felony if it concluded that business records were falsified in the service of a second crime, even if the jurors did not agree on the nature of that second offense. Mr. Trump contends that those instructions violated the Supreme Court’s ruling that criminal convictions, both state and federal, require unanimity.Mr. Trump has already appealed his 34 convictions in the New York state system, where it is docketed at the intermediate appellate court —the same tribunal that, after nearly a year of deliberation, reversed the $500 million civil fraud penalty secured by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, against Mr. Trump, his two adult sons, and their family business. If Mr. Trump succeeds at removal, that appeal would be transferred to the Second Circuit.

Exclusive: Trump Argues Stormy Daniels Case ‘Belongs in Federal Court’ Rather Than Hostile Manhattan Venue Desired by Alvin Bragg

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