Donald Trump has lost his third attempt to move a challenge to his New York criminal fraud conviction to a federal court. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein blocked the effort to have the U.S. District Court in Manhattan seize control of the case from the New York court where Trump was tried and convicted.
The judge ruled that payments to an adult film star do not constitute an official act covered by presidential immunity. The conviction in the hush money case relates to conduct that preceded the 2016 presidential election, which led to Trump's first term in the White House.
Trump sought to move the state court conviction to federal jurisdiction in the belief that he would benefit from broader protection from prosecution.