Trump again asks appeals court to move New York hush money case to federal court

October 15, 2024

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has again asked an appeals court to transfer his New York criminal hush money case to federal court, reigniting an effort to stall his sentencing or throw out his conviction on 34 felony courts.

In a filing on late Monday, Trump’s lawyers asked the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reconsider a lower court’s September decision denying the former president’s attempt to remove the state case to federal court.

Defense lawyers argued in the filing that the jury in the case improperly saw evidence of Trump’s official acts as president which would have been protected by the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity.

“This case presents complex first-impression issues relating to the Supremacy Clause, federal-officer removal, appearances of impropriety and conflicts in connection with an unprecedented and baseless prosecution of the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election, and the ability of future Presidents to serve the American people without fear of reprisal from hostile local officials,” lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the 99-page filing.

Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled in a blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.

Criminal or civil cases against federal officials can be removed to federal court if the officials can prove the case centers on official conduct. When Trump sought to remove his hush money case to federal court in 2023 by arguing that the allegations related to his official acts as president, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied the move, writing that “hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts.”

Judge Hellerstein then denied Trump’s request to reconsider his decision in September, as Trump was seeking to delay his sentencing, because the former president failed to show “good cause” for why the issue should be examined again.

“Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority,” Judge Hellerstein wrote.

Trump is now appealing Hellerstein’s September decision, which defense lawyers argue relied on a “profoundly flawed analysis.”

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, after the New York judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, granted Trump’s request to delay sentencing until after the November election.

In their filing Monday, Trump’s lawyers also aired grievances about an alleged conflict of interest by Judge Merchan and political motivations of the prosecutors, writing that witnesses “concocted the type of false and implausible story President Trump’s political opponents wanted to hear.”

If the effort to remove the case to federal court is successful, it could give Trump the authority to kill the prosecution if he is elected to the presidency in November. Unlike his federal criminal cases, Trump is unable to direct the prosecution or pardon himself if the case remains in state court.

The removal attempt could also impact the timing of Trump’s Nov. 26 sentencing if the motion remains unresolved by then.

Separately, Judge Merchan is expected to issue a ruling on Trump’s effort to throw out the conviction based on presidential immunity by Nov. 12.

California teen mom and newborn missing since Sunday, may be in high-desert area

Los Angeles Police Department via X

(LOS ANGELES) — California officials are asking for help locating a 14-year-old mother, her newborn and her 15-year-old sister-in-law, all of whom haven’t been seen since Sunday night.

Amoria Brown, 14; her daughter Omoria Brown, 3 months old; and Sanaii Brown, 15, were last seen at around 10 p.m. Sunday and were believed to be headed to a high-desert area with family, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The newborn girl suffers from a heart condition and needs daily medication, according to the LAPD.

Amoria Brown is described as Black, 5-foot-4 and about 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was seen wearing a multicolored shirt, gray shorts and gray sandals, according to the LAPD.

Sanaii Brown is Black with brown hair and brown eyes. She is 5-foot-1 and weighs about 150 pounds, the LAPD said.

Police ask anyone with information about the teens and newborn to contact the LAPD at 1-800-222- 8477.

One police officer shot and killed, two others wounded in Dallas shooting

kali9/Getty Images

(DALLAS) — One police officer has been shot and killed and two others wounded after a shooting in Dallas, Texas, authorities have confirmed.

Dallas police officers were called to a report of an officer in distress on the 900 block of E. Ledbetter Drive in southern Dallas, according to Kristin Lowman, Dallas Police Department’s communications director, who addressed the media early Friday morning.

When officers arrived, they found an officer shot in his marked patrol vehicle and the responding officers began to exchange gunfire with a suspect at the scene, Lowman said. Two police officers were shot in that exchange.

The suspect fled the scene and Dallas police officers pursued the individual to the 1000 block of Stemmons Freeway down I-35E in Lewisville, police said.

The suspect eventually stopped and exited their vehicle carrying a long gun when Dallas officers shot and killed the individual.

All three officers were immediately taken to local hospitals where one of them died from the injuries sustained in the shooting, officials said. The other two are currently in critical and stable conditions, respectively.

Officials did not give any possible motive for the shooting and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

1 dead as landslide sweeps across roads, into homes in Alaska, officials say

Ketchikan Gateway Borough/via Reuters

(KETCHIKAN, Alaska) — A landslide in Ketchikan, Alaska, has killed at least one person and has blocked roads and damaged houses, officials said.

Three people were injured and taken to the hospital, according to Kacie Paxton, a public information officer for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. One of those people was later released, she said.

Mandatory evacuations were put in place after the landslide swept through several streets in Ketchikan at about 4 p.m. Sunday, Paxton said. Alaska State Troopers and local authorities were undertaking search and rescue operations.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an Alaska Disaster Emergency Declaration. A separate Joint Disaster Emergency Declaration was issued by borough Mayor Rodney Dial and city of Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer.

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never seen a slide of this magnitude,” Kiffer said in a statement. “With the slides we have seen across the region, there is clearly a region-wide issue that we need to try to understand with the support of our state geologist.”

“The loss of life that we have encountered is heartbreaking, and my heart goes out to those who lost their homes,” he added.

Photos released by the borough appeared to show a pile of trees and loose soil up against several hillside homes, at least one of which appeared to have been pushed into another home. Other photos appeared to show roads covered with debris, including trees.

“Our prayers are with the families, the injured, those recovering, and the community,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said on social media, later adding, “My team and I stand ready to help facilitate any federal assistance that may be necessary.”

Ketchikan Gateway Borough officials warned Monday morning that “the slide area remains unstable.”

“State and local geologists will be onsite mid-morning to assess the area for potential secondary slides,” officials said. “A NOAA weather team and representatives from the State Emergency Operations Center will also be on scene.”

This landslide comes as Ketchikan saw about 3 inches of rain this month — about half its average rainfall for August.

Ketchikan received over 2.5 inches of rainfall over this weekend, and higher elevations in the Ketchikan Range reported 5 to 9 inches of rain. Too much rain at once after a drier period can cause a landslide.

The rain will continue Monday morning and then dry off through Tuesday. More rain is expected Wednesday and Thursday as a new frontal system moves in.

Landslides are common in southeast Alaska. Six people were killed, including an 11-year-old girl, in a major landslide in Wrangell, about 100 miles north of Ketchikan, last November.