A federal judge on Wednesday denied former US President Donald Trump’s bid to move his hush-money payments case from New York state court to a federal venue, NBC News reported.
The ruling from US District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein means the case will stay in Manhattan criminal court, where District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is prosecuting Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, argued that the payments were connected to his duties as president and that the case should therefore be heard in federal court. Hellerstein rejected that argument, however.
"Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the Indictment is for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a President. Trump also has failed to show that he has a colorable federal defense to the Indictment," the judge wrote in a 25-page ruling quoted by NBC News.
A spokesperson for Bragg said: “We are very pleased with the federal court’s decision and look forward to proceeding in New York State Supreme Court.”
A Trump campaign spokesperson said in a statement that "this case belongs in a federal court and we will continue to pursue all legal avenues to move it there.”
The conduct Trump is accused of covering up includes a $130,000 payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump has acknowledged repaying Cohen in a series of payments in 2017, when he was president, but he maintains the payments were on the up-and-up and that there was no connection to Daniels.
Trump's attorneys argued the case should be heard in federal court, where the former president could claim additional defenses, in part because they say he would not have hired Cohen as his personal lawyer had he not been elected president. Therefore, they argued, his actions relating to Cohen were “connected or associated” with his official duties.
Hellerstein disagreed in his ruling and also shrugged off Trump's argument that he was unfairly charged by the Democratic district attorney.
The case will now go back to state criminal court in Manhattan, where it is being overseen by Judge Juan Merchan. It is scheduled to go to trial in March.