Aug 29, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Trump asks federal court to seize N.Y. hush-money case

Rebecca Falconer

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event at Harrah's Cherokee Center on August 14, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. — Republican presidential nominee former President Trump in Asheville, North Carolina, earlier this month. Photo: Grant Baldwin/Getty Images

Former President Trump's lawyers asked a federal court on Thursday night to seize the New York hush money case from the state as he seeks to overturn his conviction.

Why it matters: Trump is due to be sentenced on Sept. 18 for his historic conviction on 34 felony counts over falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels over an alleged sexual encounter.

His filing seeks to delay this, arguing that his constitutional rights were violated during the prosecution and that it went against the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Driving the news: Arguing for the need to move the case to an "unbiased forum, free from local hostilities," Trump's lawyers argued in the filing that immediate access to was "imperative and of the utmost urgency."

They added: ""Federal institutional interests associated with the Presidency, Congressional and FEC regulation of federal elections, and the integrity of the upcoming 2024 Presidential election are at stake."
Representatives for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Flashback: A federal judge last year rejected Trump's first attempt to move the hush money case to federal court on the grounds that the evidence suggested it didn't concern presidential duties, per AP.

Go deeper: Judge in Trump's hush money case declines to recuse himself for a third time

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Trump asks federal court to seize N.Y. hush-money case

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