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Donald Trump has filed a petition seeking to move his New York state criminal case to a federal court in Manhattan and push off the upcoming sentencing for his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The petition filed Thursday asks the federal court to confirm the former president cannot be sentenced while the litigation over the removal to federal court is pending.
“These ongoing harms must be stopped. The impending election cannot be redone. The currently unaddressed harm to the Presidency resulting from this improper prosecution will adversely impact the operations of the federal government for generations,” the filing states.
It continues: “Accordingly, President Trump respectfully requests that the Court (i) accept this Second Removal Notice; (ii) confirm that Justice Merchan may not sentence President Trump during litigation over this Second Removal Notice because sentencing would result in a prohibited ‘judgment of conviction.’”
Trump’s sentencing is currently scheduled for September 18, though Judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule in early September on a previously filed motion from Trump’s legal team – that the Manhattan district attorney’s office did not oppose – to delay it until after the election.
Trump’s team argued in Thursday’s filing in Manhattan federal court that it must intervene to correct the constitutional violations the former president has endured in his New York state criminal prosecution.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump—the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election—and voters located far beyond Manhattan. This harm includes First Amendment violations, as Justice Merchan has maintained a post-trial gag order that restricts President Trump from engaging in political advocacy based on valid criticisms of the New York County proceedings. And an entirely unjust sentencing is currently scheduled to occur on September 18, 2024, which could result in President Trump’s immediate and unconstitutional incarceration and prevent him from continuing his groundbreaking campaign,” the filing states.
Trump’s lawyers cite the “extraordinary significance” of the recent US Supreme Court decision that determined Trump has broad sweeping immunity for any “official acts.”
Since the high court ruling, Trump’s lawyers have asked Merchan to vacate the state conviction arguing that evidence of a president’s official acts should not be used in a trial.
They’ve specifically highlighted testimony from former White House aide Hope Hicks and tweets from Trump’s Twitter account shown to the jury during the seven-week hush money trial.
Merchan has said he’d rule on that motion the week of September 16 – around the same time he’s currently set to sentence Trump.
A federal judge rejected Trump’s first request to move the state case to federal court last summer, ruling that Trump failed to show that any of the allegedly illegal conduct related to his role as president.
At the time, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in his ruling that payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, which were at the center of the case, were not related to presidential duties.
In the filing Thursday, Trump’s lawyers say he is now entitled to a federal review of the case in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
“President Trump is entitled to a federal forum for his Presidential immunity defense based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States. That decision demonstrates that the defense is much more than colorable. After this case is properly removed, President Trump will establish that the charges must be dismissed. Specifically, the Presidential immunity doctrine recognized in Trump v. United States pertains to all ‘criminal proceedings,’ including grand jury proceedings when a prosecutor ‘seeks to charge’ a former President using evidence of official acts. [The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office] violated the doctrine by presenting evidence of President Trump’s official acts in grand jury proceedings and at trial.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
