The legal team of former President Donald Trump is making a renewed push to overturn his conviction related to hush money payments, arguing that federal law should supersede state law in this matter. They assert that there was no criminal intent involved. These arguments were submitted to a New York state appeals court just before midnight on Monday.
Previously, in June, Trump’s lawyers appealed to a federal court to relocate the proceedings to a federal jurisdiction. This move would allow Trump to argue his case from a standpoint of presidential immunity. The federal appeals court’s decision on this matter remains pending.
In May 2024, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records. These records allegedly concealed a payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who had claimed an affair that could have jeopardized Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Trump refutes these claims and continues to assert his innocence. This trial is the only one among four criminal cases against him that has reached a courtroom verdict.
In January, Trump received an unconditional discharge, keeping his conviction on his record but exempting him from imprisonment, probation, fines, or any other penalties.
During a virtual appearance at his sentencing, Trump criticized the proceedings, calling them a “political witch hunt,” “a weaponization of government,” and “an embarrassment to New York.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, responsible for the prosecution, will have an opportunity to respond to these appeal arguments in future court filings. A request for comment from the office was made on Tuesday.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Trump had misrepresented payments made to his former lawyer Michael Cohen as legal fees. These payments were, in reality, reimbursements for the $130,000 Cohen paid Daniels to ensure her silence during the critical final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
At the time, Daniels had been contemplating going public with her claims of a 2006 encounter with Trump, who was married at the time and has consistently denied any such event took place.
In their court filings, Trump’s legal representatives described the case as “the most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history.” They argue that Trump fell victim to a Democratic district attorney in Manhattan, who they claim “concocted a purported felony by stacking time-barred misdemeanors under a convoluted legal theory” during a contentious presidential campaign where Trump was a leading Republican contender.
The lawyers contend that federal law should override the “misdemeanor-turned-felony charges” because these charges hinge on an alleged breach of federal campaign regulations, which states are neither capable of nor have historically enforced.
Furthermore, they argue that the trial’s integrity was compromised when prosecutors presented official presidential acts as evidence, which the Supreme Court has deemed inadmissible against a sitting U.S. president.
“Beyond these fatal flaws, the evidence was clearly insufficient to convict,” the legal team stated in their filing.
The defense also questioned the basis of the conviction, arguing that it was supported by “pure, evidence-free speculation” and that prosecutors failed to prove any connection between Trump’s actions and considerations for the 2020 election when he is alleged to have decided on reimbursing Cohen.
