{"id":828913,"date":"2026-08-28T18:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/828913\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T18:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:06:20","slug":"trump-still-a-convicted-criminal-as-judge-rejects-request-what-happens-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/828913\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Still a Convicted Criminal as Judge Rejects Request\u2014What Happens Next"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal<\/a> judge<\/a> on Friday again rejected President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s attempt to erase his New York<\/a> hush\u2011money conviction, refusing to move the case into federal court or dismiss it on presidential\u2011immunity grounds. This leaves Trump\u2019s felony conviction fully intact as he continues to challenge the case while serving as president. <\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said Trump\u2019s renewed arguments were \u201cneither new nor legally sufficient,\u201d adding that the president \u201chas failed to show good cause and diligence.\u201d <\/p>\n

It marks the third time Hellerstein has refused Trump\u2019s bid to wrest control of the case away from the New York court where he was tried and convicted.<\/p>\n

Read More on U.S.<\/p>\n

\"PresidentWhy the Judge Rejected Trump\u2019s Latest Bid<\/p>\n

The judge found no basis to revisit arguments he had already rejected, including Trump\u2019s claim that the conviction should be voided because the underlying conduct was tied to his presidency.<\/p>\n

In his order, Hellerstein wrote that Trump\u2019s latest filing offered nothing that would alter the court\u2019s prior conclusions. The judge\u2019s language signals that the court views these repeated motions as attempts to relitigate settled issues rather than present new evidence or legal theory.<\/p>\n

The decision also reinforces the separation between Trump\u2019s federal office and the state\u2011level conduct at the heart of the case. Trump was convicted in New York in 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a hush\u2011money payment to Stormy Daniels.<\/p>\n

Hellerstein has repeatedly ruled that the acts in question were personal, not presidential, and therefore not eligible for federal removal.<\/p>\n

What the Ruling Means for Trump\u2019s Conviction<\/p>\n

The ruling does not change his sentence\u2014an unconditional discharge handed down earlier this year\u2014but it preserves the conviction as Trump continues to appeal.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s legal team has argued that the conviction should be wiped away because the case allegedly interferes with federal authority and because Trump should be immune from prosecution for conduct connected to his political campaign. <\/p>\n

Hellerstein\u2019s ruling shuts down that argument yet again, leaving Trump to pursue relief only through the state appellate courts.<\/p>\n

The conviction stems from a case that began years before Trump returned to the White House. Manhattan prosecutors accused him of falsifying business records to conceal reimbursements to Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 campaign. <\/p>\n

A jury found Trump guilty on all counts in May 2024, making him the first U.S. president ever convicted of a felony.<\/p>\n

This news is breaking. More to follow. <\/p>\n

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant<\/a> and Sam Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge on Friday again rejected President Donald Trump\u2019s attempt to erase his New York hush\u2011money conviction,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,12,451,58568,2005,3,43515,452,453,351122],"class_list":["post-828913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-michael-cohen","tag-new-york","tag-news","tag-stormy-daniels","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-trump-hush-money-case"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}