OMM Newsroom
A New York appeals court on Thursday questioned whether US President Donald Trump’s criminal conviction over hush money payments made before the 2016 presidential election should stand in light of presidential immunity protections, according to Anadolu Agency, which cited The Hill.
Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The payment was allegedly intended to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump before the election. Trump denies the encounter.
The conviction made Trump the first former US president to be found guilty of a crime. He was later sentenced to an unconditional discharge, meaning he faced no prison time, fines or probation.
At Thursday’s hearing, Trump’s lawyers argued that prosecutors had improperly introduced evidence concerning his official presidential activities, including social media posts, White House phone records and testimony from former aide Hope Hicks.
The lawyers based their argument on a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that granted former presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts performed while in office.
“Wouldn’t that be or fit within the outer perimeter that the Supreme Court was talking about here, and therefore would have barred this stuff from coming in?” Associate Justice Martin Shulman asked.
Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office defended the trial, arguing that the evidence was admissible and that any errors were not sufficient to overturn the conviction.
Trump’s lawyers also argued that federal campaign finance law takes precedence over the state law under which he was prosecuted. The president is separately seeking to transfer the case to federal court as part of his efforts to overturn the conviction.
