Former President Donald Trump’s attempt to shift his New York criminal case to federal court has been rejected by a U.S. judge.
Trump and his lawyers argued that because Trump was president when he carried out the actions for which he’s been charged, the case should be heard in federal, not New York, court.
U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Clinton appointee, disagreed.
“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,” Hellerstein said in a July 19 ruling. “Trump also has failed to show that he has a colorable federal defense to the Indictment.”
A lawyer for Mr. Trump declined to comment.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, announced earlier this year that a grand jury approved 34 felony counts against Mr. Trump for allegedly falsifying business records.
The alleged illegal acts took place in 2017 after Mr. Trump was sworn into office.
That means Mr. Trump was an officer of the United States and that the case should be removed to federal court, lawyers for Mr. Trump have said.
“This court has original subject matter jurisdiction over this criminal action because the case involves important federal questions since the indictment charges President Trump for conduct committed while he was president of the United States that was within the ‘color of his office,’ and the charges involve alleged federal and state election law violations that have a federal preemption defense,” they wrote in one filing.
Federal law states that a criminal prosecution initiated in a state court against an officer of the United States who was acting “in an official or individual capacity for or relating to any act under color of such office” and who raises a colorable federal defense must be removed to federal court. The law applies to former officers if the charges relate to conduct performed while they were still in office.
