Trump appeals hush-money conviction, cites immunity claim

US President Donald Trump has filed an appeal to overturn his May 2024 criminal conviction in the hush-money case, saying he is protected by presidential immunity.

In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records related to payments made before the 2016 election. The court said Trump tried to hide a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to stop her from speaking about an alleged affair.

The payment itself was not illegal, but prosecutors said Trump disguised the reimbursement to his lawyer, Michael Cohen, as legal expenses to mislead voters. Trump denied all wrongdoing and said the case was politically motivated.

In December, a New York judge sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge, meaning he did not have to pay a fine or serve jail time, noting his possible return to the White House.

Trump’s lawyers said the conviction was “the most politically charged prosecution in our nation’s history” and argued that it should never have gone to trial. They claimed the charges were filed during a heated election season to harm his campaign.

Their appeal is based on a Supreme Court ruling made a month after Trump’s conviction, which stated that presidents have broad immunity for official acts done while in office. Trump’s team says some trial evidence should have been excluded under that ruling.

Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw the case, had earlier rejected this immunity argument, but Trump’s legal team is now asking the New York Appellate Division to dismiss the conviction.

In a separate case in August, the same court overturned a $500 million civil fraud penalty against Trump, saying the punishment was too harsh, though it upheld that Trump had committed fraud.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which led the hush-money prosecution, has not commented on the appeal.