Trump asks federal court to intervene in hush money case in bid to toss conviction, delay sentencing

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump asked a federal court late Thursday to intervene in his hush money criminal case, seeking a pathway to overturn his conviction and indefinitely delay his sentencing scheduled for next month.

The former president’s lawyers asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take control of the New York City criminal case, arguing that the state-level prosecution violated Trump’s constitutional rights and ran afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.

Trump was convicted in state court in Manhattan in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment to bury affair allegations that threatened to cloud his 2016 presidential run.

A federal judge rejected Trump’s previous attempt last year to move the case to federal court, clearing the way for Trump’s historic trial in state court.

In Thursday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers said moving the case to federal court following his May 30 conviction will give him an “unbiased forum, free from local hostilities” to address those issues. If the case is moved to federal court, Trump lawyers wrote, they will then seek to have the verdict overturned and the case dismissed.

“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.

A message seeking comment was left with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case.