As former President Donald Trump completed a Michigan campaign rally and a Wisconsin town hall, the MAGA leader made what one legal expert called a "last-ditch" attempt to move his New York hush money case to federal court before his sentencing.
Three months ago, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from a payment he's accused of making to cover up an alleged tryst between him and porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump filed a request Thursday to have the case moved to federal court before he's due to be sentenced Sept. 18.
"This 'zombie' case should have been dismissed long ago," Trump's lawyers wrote in the filing.
They accused prosecutors in Manhattan of violating the presidential immunity doctrine in grand jury proceedings and at trial by relying on evidence that they claim were "official acts" Trump did during his first term.
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“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to [former] President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” the filing said.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin noted Trump's team previously attempted to remove the case from the Manhattan court more than a year ago and lost. Thursday night's filing, she said on X, "is a last-ditch attempt to stop the sentencing under the guise of a removal notice."
"Because what they want most -- and they say so expressly -- is for Manhattan federal judge Alvin Hellerstein to 'confirm that Justice [Juan] Merchan may not sentence [former] President Trump during litigation over the removal.'"
She added: "A state court cannot sentence a defendant who has a pending removal notice until a federal court expressly sends it back."
However, she poured cold water on his chances, noting that the federal judge could reject the removal request on the grounds that he must obtain the federal court's permission to file his late notice.
