A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team, in a statement, called Hellerstein’s decision “baseless and lawless”. Within hours, the President’s attorneys filed notice they would appeal.
The spokesperson’s statement read: “The supreme court’s historic decision on immunity, the federal and New York state constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that the witch hunt perpetrated by the Manhattan DA be removed to federal court, and immediately overturned and dismissed.”
A New York jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, whose allegations of an affair with Trump threatened to upend his 2016 presidential campaign.
He was sentenced, shortly before the start of his second term, to an unconditional discharge, sparing him prison time but leaving his conviction in place. Trump has denied Daniels’s claims and that he committed any crimes.
Hellerstein, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, has twice denied similar bids from Trump to move the case to federal courts – first after he was indicted; then again after his conviction.
The judge’s decision came after a federal appeals court sent the question back to Hellerstein last year, saying the judge needed to more carefully consider whether some of the evidence used in Trump’s trial would have been deemed inadmissible under the supreme court’s immunity ruling.
In his decision, Hellerstein was unequivocal on that point – writing: “There is no way that discussions regarding hush money payments to cover up the President’s relations with Stormy Daniels could be an official act.
“An affair, or a cover-up of an affair, is not within the ‘outer perimeter’ of the President’s official responsibilities.”
In addition to the matter before Hellerstein, the president has also asked a New York state appellate court to overturn the conviction.
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