Trump loses again in bid to erase his hush money conviction

A federal judge on Friday once again spurned Donald Trump's effort to erase his hush money conviction, rejecting the president's bid to move the state court case to federal court and have it dismissed on presidential immunity grounds.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein reiterated his earlier finding against Trump, saying that the reasons Trump cited for renewing his request were "neither new nor legally sufficient."

The judge added: "He has failed to show good cause and diligence."

trump cannot honestly get the conviction overturned.

The conviction itself, however, is still on a separate state-court appellate track. An unconditional discharge was entered in January 2025 (no jail, no fine), but the 34 felony counts remain on the books unless a New York appellate court or the U.S. Supreme Court later vacates them.

That process is independent of the federal-removal fights (Clinton appointee) Hellerstein keeps shutting down.

The case has always rested on a novel theory (misdemeanor records falsification elevated by an uncharged election-law predicate) and a cooperating witness (Cohen) whose credibility has been repeatedly impeached. Those issues can still be litigated on the state appeal.

Diogenes said:

The conviction itself, however, is still on a separate state-court appellate track. An unconditional discharge was entered in January 2025 (no jail, no fine), but the 34 felony counts remain on the books unless a New York appellate court or the U.S. Supreme Court later vacates them.

That process is independent of the federal-removal fights (Clinton appointee) Hellerstein keeps shutting down.

The case has always rested on a novel theory (misdemeanor records falsification elevated by an uncharged election-law predicate) and a cooperating witness (Cohen) whose credibility has been repeatedly impeached. Those issues can still be litigated on the state appeal.

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Cohen got caught lying to protect Trump. Trump bailed on him. Cohen has a bad credibility problem, but it is much better than Trump's.

Nordberg said:

Cohen got caught lying to protect Trump. Trump bailed on him. Cohen has a bad credibility problem, but it is much better than Trump's.

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Cohen has a documented credibility problem. He is a convicted felon who pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign-finance violations.

Defense lawyers in the 2024 hush-money trial used that record heavily. Some commentators called him a weak star witness for that reason.

“Much better than Trump’s” is subjective. Trump has not been convicted of the same type of lying-under-oath offenses Cohen has.

In a courtroom, Cohen’s prior convictions for lying are a classic impeachment tool; Trump did not testify in the hush-money trial.

The underlying legal theory of the hush-money case (falsifying business records as a felony because of an uncharged election-law predicate) and Cohen’s role as a cooperating witness remain live issues on the separate New York state appeal, as Diogenes noted.

Clinton appointee Hellerstein’s latest ruling only blocked another attempt to move the case into federal court on immunity grounds; it did not resolve the state appeal.