Federal District Judge Alvin Hellerstein has once again denied former President Donald Trump’s request to transfer his New York state criminal hush money case to federal court. In his ruling, Hellerstein stated that Trump’s grounds for the transfer are “neither new nor legally sufficient,” maintaining his previous position that the acts charged in the state case against Trump were private and unrelated to his federal office. The judge emphasized that the prosecution “arises from President Trump’s private conduct surrounding the reimbursement of hush money payments to an adult film star,” which “bears no substantive relation to his position in federal office.”

Hellerstein further clarified that discussions regarding hush money payments to cover up Trump’s relations with Stormy Daniels cannot be considered an official act, asserting that “an affair, or a cover-up of an affair, is not within the ‘outer perimeter’ of the President’s official responsibilities.” Trump’s legal team immediately appealed the ruling, arguing that the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity, along with other legal precedents, mandate the removal of the case to federal court and its dismissal. However, Hellerstein also noted that Trump’s delay in filing the renewed request for removal constitutes a “quintessential strategic decision,” and that the fact that Trump later viewed this decision as poor is not sufficient to establish cause for the transfer.

This is a summary. Read the original at yahoo.com.