Trump tries again to bring hush money case to federal court

• Trump’s lawyers tried again Monday evening to take his hush money case to federal court.
• An appeal brief recapitulates arguments from two failed attempts to take the case to state court.
• It is unclear whether there will be a decision before the November 5th election.

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have filed a 99-page appeal again requesting that his hush money case be transferred to federal court.

The brief, filed Monday night in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, is Trump’s second attempt to move the case from New York’s state court system to a place where he could seek to pardon himself if elected president.

Trump’s first attempt at a so-called “deportation” in federal court came in May during his trial in Manhattan. The brief argued that his federal prosecution of 34 counts of falsifying business records was politically motivated, influenced by a biased judge and based on his official actions as president. Trump failed in this attempt and quickly gave up the appeal.

“Hush money paid to an adult film star has no connection to the official actions of a president,” U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein wrote in rejecting his removal in July.

Trump’s second attempt at removal, made after his conviction in a brief filed in August, was narrowly defeated – again by Hellerstein – days later, although the attempt resulted in a delay in sentencing.

On Monday, Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated their arguments from May and August when they appealed Hellerstein’s decision, calling the hush money case “an unprecedented and baseless prosecution.”

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Trump’s lawyers argue that he is entitled to have the case heard in a “federal forum” because much of his defense “rests on structural protections for the institution of the presidency and the Supremacy Clause,” which states that federal law prevails over all contradictory state rules.

Trump maintains his innocence in the historic case, which is the first ever conviction of a former or current president. He faces a sentence of probation to four years in prison after a jury found he conspired to falsify Trump Organization records to hide a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels was aimed at silencing her days before voters went to the polls in the 2016 election.

His sentencing date is November 26th, three weeks after the November 5th election.

Manhattan prosecutors now have a chance to respond to Monday’s brief. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening. It is unclear whether the Second Circuit will decide on removal before or after the election.

Read Trump’s appeal letter here.