Judge Denies Trump Bid To Move Hush Money Case to Fed Court

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

46% : Before the case went to trial last spring, Trump made the same request to the same federal judge, asking to move the case to federal court.
46% : Prosecutors wrote in their letter on Tuesday, as they had previously expressed, that they would leave the decision whether to move the sentencing date up to the judge, writing that "we defer to the court on the appropriate post-trial schedule," which would allow Trump "adequate time" to appeal his verdict, but "without unreasonable delay.
43% : The defense argued that numerous tweets the prosecution cited as evidence during trial, and phone calls Trump made, were all from the time, when he resided in the White House.
38% : Trump has said he will appeal, but can only do so after he is sentenced.
37% : The historic Supreme Court ruling, which Trump raised as one of his good cause arguments, held that "a former president is entitled to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken in the exercise of his core constitutional powers," Judge Hellerstein clarified, meaning a former president cannot be held accountable for actions he took in service of the presidency.
34% : Trump has asked Judge Merchan to dismiss the verdict and the entire indictment against him in the wake of the Supreme Court immunity decision, arguing that much of the evidence used at trial was related to "official acts."
30% : The alleged reimbursements for the hush-money payment to Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, occurred in 2017, when Trump was president.
29% : At the heart of the case was a $130,000 hush-money payment that Trump's then personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to the pornographic performer, writer and director Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in 2016 to buy her silence about her claim that she had a single sexual encounter with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in 2006.
28% : When Trump did not adhere to the order and continued to make public remarks, the judge threatened to jail the former president should he violate the order again.
25% : Second, Trump argues that Trump v. The United States," here the judge referred to the Supreme Court's recent landmark decision on presidential immunity, "grants him immunity from prosecution," the judge explained before he laid out his reasoning.
24% : The decision when and if Trump will face sentencing for his criminal conviction now lies in the hands of the presiding trial judge in the case, Juan Merchan.
22% : "In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsification of business records in an alleged scheme to interfere with the 2016 election, making Trump the first former president in the history of America with a felony conviction.
22% : The prosecution accused Trump of directing Cohen to wire the money to Ms. Clifford and then disguising his reimbursement to Cohen as a legal fee.
21% : Trump denies all charges and says he never had sex with Ms. Clifford.
12% : Trump's legal team filed the request to move the criminal case from state to federal court last Friday, as the Sun reported, in a last-minute attempt to prevent Trump from being sentenced for his felony convictions by a judge the 45th president has called "a certified Trump hater.
11% : He added that, "private schemes with private actors unconnected to any statutory or constitutional authority or function of the executive, are considered unofficial acts."Regarding Trump's concern that Judge Merchan, whom Trump has called "highly conflicted", is biased against Trump, Hellerstein wrote that his court did not have the "jurisdiction to hear Trump's arguments concerning the propriety of the New York trial.
2% : After Trump denounced Ms. Merchan, her father gagged him from criticizing her or other family members of courtroom personnel, citing like other judges who have imposed gag orders against Trump, an increase in death threats from Trump supporters.

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