Donald Trump is trying to Supreme Court ruling in which he argues that presidents are immune from federal prosecution for official actions to overturn his conviction in a criminal case in New York State.
A letter to the judge presiding over the case in New York has not yet been made public. It was filed Monday after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling delayed the former president’s criminal cases.
A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment when asked about Trump’s efforts to overturn the conviction, which was first reported by The New York Times.
Trump’s criminal case in New York is the only one of the four against him to appear before a judge. On May 30, a unanimous jury found Trump was guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up reimbursements for a “hush money” payment to an adult film star. Trump authorized the falsification of the records while he was in the White House in 2017.
The Supreme Court’s decision Monday extended broad immunity from criminal prosecution to former presidents for their official conduct. But the issue of whether Trump engaged in official acts has already been fought out in his case in New York.
Trump sought to move the case from state to federal jurisdiction in 2023. His lawyers argued that the charges related to official acts within the color of his presidential duties.
That argument was rejected by a federal judge who wrote that Trump had failed to show that his conduct “was directed toward or related to an act done by or for the President under the guise of the official acts of a President.”
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal matter of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” wrote U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “Hush money paid to an adult film star is unrelated to the official acts of a President. It in no way reflects the color of the President’s official duties.”
Trump initially appealed the decision, but later withdrew his appeal.
His case went to trial in April and shortly after the jury unanimously found him guilty, Trump vowed to appeal the conviction.
Trump is scheduled to convicted on July 11Prosecutors were expected to file a sentencing recommendation Monday. That filing has not been made public.
