U.S. President Donald Trump has suffered another legal setback in his effort to overturn his criminal conviction in the New York hush money case, after a federal court rejected his latest attempt to erase the verdict.
Trump was convicted in 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. He has continued to deny wrongdoing and has repeatedly argued that the prosecution was politically motivated.
The latest ruling leaves Trump’s conviction intact and represents another defeat in his ongoing legal battle over the case. His lawyers have pursued several avenues to challenge the verdict, including attempts to move the case into federal court.
The case centers on a payment made by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued that Trump improperly recorded reimbursements to Cohen as legal expenses, concealing the true purpose of the payment.
Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, meaning he was not ordered to serve prison time, pay a fine or complete probation. However, the conviction remains on his criminal record.
Trump’s return to the White House has added an unprecedented political dimension to the case. He has used his position and public platform to criticize the prosecution and the judge while maintaining that the case should never have been brought against him.
His legal team has continued to seek avenues for reversing the conviction, but the latest decision means the verdict remains legally valid for now.
The development comes as Trump faces continuing legal and political questions surrounding his previous criminal cases, while his administration remains focused on its broader domestic and foreign-policy agenda.
The hush money case is the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments that resulted in a conviction, making the latest ruling particularly significant in his continuing legal history.
Swifteradio.com
