Trump receives judicial setback in latest attempt to reverse Stormy Daniels conviction

Donald Trump failed in his latest attempt to overturn his conviction in the Stormy Daniels case, where a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. The former president's legal team tried unsuccessfully to have a federal judge intervene in the case to get him out of New York before the sentencing hearing, scheduled for Sept. 18.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied the Republican presidential candidate's request. In his four-page brief, he asserted that Trump's lawyers' arguments for moving the case out of New York were insufficient.

Hellerstein asserted that district courts have no authority to examine possible bias against Trump in New York state courts, and argued that this is a matter for state appellate courts to review.

"Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority," the justice noted.

In its petition, Trump's legal team argued that the state prosecution was political in nature and that it would cause "direct and irreparable harm" to the 2024 presidential election.

"The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump … and voters located far beyond Manhattan," Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, lawyers for the Republican, previously noted in statements reported by the Washington Post.

In late May, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Just minutes after the jury's decision came to light and they found the former president guilty of each and every one of the charges brought against him by prosecutor Bragg the former president expressed his opinion on social media.

"This was a trial rigged by a conflicted and corrupt judge. The real verdict is going to be on Nov. 5 by the people, and they know what happened here," he said at the time.