Trump tries to move Manhattan hush money case to federal court

Former President Trump will try to move his Manhattan criminal hush money case from state to federal court.

Trump is arguing the case must be transferred because it involves important federal questions, according to court filings. Moving the case to federal court would increase the potential jury pool, which is currently limited to the heavily-Democratic population of Manhattan.

“This case is unprecedented in our nation’s history,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the 9-page filing. “Never before has a local elected prosecutor criminally prosecuted a defendant either for conduct that occurred entirely while the defendant was the sitting President of the United States or for conduct that related to federal campaign contribution laws.”

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over his alleged role in a hush money scheme ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He pleaded not guilty.

Hush money by itself is legal, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) is prosecuting how Trump reimbursed his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, for making the $130,000 hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Bragg is connecting the allegedly falsified records to purported violations of campaign finance laws. 

“[T]his Court has original subject matter jurisdiction over this criminal action because the case involves important federal questions since the indictment charges President Trump for conduct committed while he was President of the United States that was within the ‘color of his office,’ and the charges involve alleged federal and state election law violations that have a federal preemption defense,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche previewed the move at a court hearing earlier in the day. The former president, who has been in Ireland this week, did not attend the hearing. It focused on prosecutors’ request for a protective order, which would place rules on how Trump can use evidence that prosecutors turn over to him during discovery.

“We are reviewing the notice of removal and will file an appropriate response in court,” a spokesperson for Bragg said in a statement.

Down the street from the hearing in Manhattan criminal court, Trump is also in the middle of an unrelated civil trial over writer E. Jean Carroll’s accusation that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s. 

Carroll is suing Trump for sexual battery and for defamation over an October 2022 Truth Social post he made denying her claims. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

— Updated 7:04 p.m.