Trump Lawyers Argue Hush Money Appeal in New York Court

President Donald Trump’s lawyers are scheduled Thursday to urge a New York mid-level appeals court to throw out his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, the Associated Press reported.

The counts stem from a $130,000 payment to adult film performer Stormy Daniels that prosecutors said was meant to keep an alleged sexual encounter with Trump from voters before the 2016 election. A Manhattan jury convicted him in May 2024. Trump denies wrongdoing and says nothing sexual happened between them. He is not expected to attend the hearing, according to the AP.

Arguments on the docket

In court papers summarized by the AP, Trump’s attorneys call the prosecution theory “a house of cards,” challenge the evidence and jury instructions, and argue that jurors should not have heard testimony about White House conversations, workflow and social media posts from his first term. Lawyer Robert Giuffra Jr. wrote in an October filing that a president addressing the nation about personal allegations, or discussing those communications with aides, is protected by presidential immunity for official acts, the AP reported.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office counters that the legal theory and instructions were proper and that the White House-related evidence was fair game. Appeals chief Steven Wu wrote in a July filing that discussions of a “purely private matter,” even with a White House adviser, are not official acts, and that prosecutors had “a mountain” of other evidence, according to the AP.

Courthouse News Service reported that the appeal is before the Appellate Division, First Department, and that Trump’s new counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell also presses claims of political motivation and argues Justice Juan Merchan should have recused himself over small past political donations and his daughter’s Democratic advertising work. Merchan declined to step aside after a judicial ethics panel found he could remain, Courthouse News reported. After Trump won the 2024 election, Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, according to that report.

Separate federal track

While the state appeal proceeds, Trump has also sought to move the case into federal court on immunity grounds. A federal judge denied that request for a third time in August, and arguments on that federal appeal are set for Nov. 16, the AP reported.

Developing: The Appellate Division has not issued a decision; Thursday’s session is oral argument only.

Sources: Associated Press via The Republic, Courthouse News Service.