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By Aila Slisco
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An attempt by former President Donald Trump's legal team to remove his New York felony case to federal court weeks ahead of his scheduled sentencing hearing has been rejected on Friday on technical grounds.
In a case brought forward by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Manhattan jury in late May convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to subvert the 2016 presidential election by obscuring "hush money" payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had an affair approximately one decade earlier.
The former president, who denies that an affair took place and claims all of his court cases are part of a Democrat-led "witch hunt," has argued that the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity, which grants immunity for some official acts by sitting presidents, means that his convictions should be thrown out.
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On Thursday, a notice of removal for what Trump's team called the "zombie" New York case was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It was kicked back on Friday, with the court's clerk writing that it had been filed under the "wrong event type" and did not include an "order granting permission to file the pleading" or an order granting of "leave" by the state court.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined Newsweek's request for comment on Friday evening.
It is not clear whether the removal notice will ultimately succeed. Outstanding issues with the filing could be rectified as soon as Tuesday when the court is likely to resume following the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Legal analysts Lisa Rubin and Norm Eisen both suggested in Friday posts to X, formerly Twitter, that Trump's team would likely not be granted required leave by the New York court or by Bragg.
"The Manhattan District Attorney's Office violated the Presidential immunity doctrine in grand jury proceedings, and again at trial, by relying on evidence of President Trump's official acts during his first term in Office," Blanche and fellow Trump lawyer Emil Bove wrote in the removal notice.
They added: "The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that these types of violations threaten the structure of the federal government and the ability of future Presidents to carry out their vital duties in the way the Framers intended," they added.
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U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, with whom Thursday's pleading was filed, previously rejected a Trump request to move the case to federal court prior to the state trial presided over by New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
Hellerstein's original ruling suggests that the judge may not be convinced that Trump's actions in the case are related to "official" presidential acts, which the Supreme Court specified were required for any immunity to be in effect.
"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president—a cover-up of an embarrassing event," Hellerstein wrote. "Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president's official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president's official duties."
Pending any successful efforts to remove the case or a delay in sentencing, Merchan is expected to preside over Trump's sentencing hearing on September 18.
Update 8/30/24 6:45 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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