Judge Considers Whether Donald Trump’s New York Criminal Case Should Be Moved to Federal Court | Wagon Radio 720

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. judge on Tuesday is moving a criminal case in New York from the state court where President Donald Trump was indicted to federal court, where it will hear arguments. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein will attend arguments in the afternoon, but will not make a decision immediately.

Trump’s lawyers filed suit shortly after Trump pleaded not guilty in April to falsifying company business records to hide hush-money payments aimed at burying allegations of extramarital affairs. Attempted to transfer to Manhattan federal court.

Requests to transfer criminal cases from states to federal courts are rarely granted, but Trump’s prosecution is unprecedented.

Republican lawyers say the charges relate to his private company records but to actions he took during his presidency. U.S. law allows state courts to drop criminal prosecutions related to acts committed by federal employees in the course of their official duties.

President Trump hid 2017 payments to former personal attorney Michael Cohen as compensation for orchestrating payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal in 2016 He allegedly falsified records to President Trump denied having an affair with either woman.

Trump’s lawyers said those payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees and not part of a cover-up.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which filed the lawsuit, said the compensation for Cohen and the women had nothing to do with Trump’s official duties as president.

If a judge agrees to move the case to federal court, Trump’s attorneys could seek to dismiss the case on the grounds that federal employees are immune to criminal prosecution for acts they perform as part of their official duties. .

Moving the case to federal court means jurors could be drawn not only from Manhattan, where President Trump remains unpopular, but also from a handful of suburban counties north of Manhattan with strong political support. .

In state court, a criminal trial was scheduled for March 25 in the middle of the primary season leading up to next November’s presidential election.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg continued to pursue the case even after Trump left office. He is the first ex-president to be indicted for a crime.