The former president was found guilty in May of 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment in 2016 – during his first presidential campaign – to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he had an affair in 2006.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the facts have not changed since he rejected Trump’s attempt to move the case last year.
At the time, the judge ruled that Trump’s reimbursements to attorney Michael Cohen, who was then his front man and facilitated the payments, did not constitute official acts.
“Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my prior conclusion that the hush money payments to defendants were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority,” Hellerstein wrote in his conclusion Tuesday.
Last week, lawyers for the former Oval Office occupant sought a second time to move the state case to federal court, citing the Supreme Court’s finding that granted immunity for some of Trump’s actions that fell within his official powers.
The ruling set a dangerous precedent, President Joe Biden said at the time, and the immediate effect was to delay Trump’s sentencing hearing in a New York court until Sept. 18.
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