Trump appeals criminal conviction in New York “hush money” case

President Trump’s lawyers on Monday filed their long-promised appeal of the Manhattan “hush money” criminal case that led to his felony conviction. 

The president’s attorneys echoed arguments that Mr. Trump and his trial counsel made repeatedly throughout the proceedings in the spring of 2024. They said the case should not have been brought, the judge should have recused himself because he had previously made small donations to Democratic causes. They also argued the conviction should be discarded due to the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. That decision was tied to another of Mr. Trump’s criminal cases, but his lawyers said it has a bearing on Mr. Trump’s conviction in the New York case. Many of these same arguments were rejected during the criminal trial in Manhattan.

“This case should have never seen the inside of a courtroom, let alone resulted in a jury conviction,” the lawyers, led by Robert Giuffra Jr., wrote in the 96-page filing.

The appeal is part of a multi-pronged effort by Mr. Trump to attempt to overturn the conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has also asked a federal appeals court to transfer his state case to federal court.

The case revolved around Mr. Trump’s efforts to cover up so-called “hush money” payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg argued during the trial that Mr. Trump, through his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election to suppress her story of an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. The jury concluded that Mr. Trump authorized an effort to falsify records related to reimbursements to Mr. Cohen for that payment.

The trial played out over seven weeks last spring, in effect relegating Mr. Trump’s third presidential campaign to hallway gaggles outside the courtroom. As Mr. Trump himself did regularly before, during and after the trial, his lawyers accused Bragg on Monday of bringing the case for political gain.

“The DA, a Democrat, brought those charges in the middle of a contentious presidential election in which President Trump was the leading Republican candidate. These charges against President Trump were as unprecedented as their political context,” Mr. Trump’s attorneys wrote. 

Bragg’s office declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s filing.

Days before his return to the White House in January, Mr. Trump received a no-jail sentence. His felony criminal conviction, however, remains on the books unless the jury’s verdict is overturned.

Mr. Trump’s lead attorney during the trial, Todd Blanche, is now the deputy U.S. attorney general. Another lawyer from his trial team, Emil Bove III, was nominated by Mr. Trump and confirmed as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

A spokesperson for Mr. Trump’s legal team called the appeal a “powerhouse.”

“President Trump will keep defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn as he focuses on his singular mission to Make America Great Again,” the spokesperson said.