{"id":21527,"date":"2026-07-30T01:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21527"},"modified":"2026-07-30T01:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:55:14","slug":"manhattan-da-challenges-trumps-appeal-of-his-2024-hush-money-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21527","title":{"rendered":"Manhattan DA challenges Trump&#8217;s appeal of his 2024 hush money conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">The Manhattan district attorney&#8217;s office is urging an intermediate appellate court in New York to reject President Donald Trump&#8217;s challenges to his 2024 <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/timeline-manhattan-district-attorney-case-donald-trump\/story?id=98389444\" dir=\"ltr\">criminal hush money conviction<\/a> that made him the first American president to be convicted of a crime and then to take office as a felon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A jury in Manhattan <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FUS%2Flive-updates%2Ftrump-hush-money-trial%2F%3Fid%3D110586765&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMarc.E.Nathanson%40abc.com%7C65b41dae99de48a1f9a808deedb2bcd5%7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6%7C1%7C0%7C639209549077710973%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=oFtd8MrLVdB5XdXxQZJdFqh%2BZH8CtKtVGiCX0AsyN9A%3D&amp;reserved=0\" dir=\"ltr\">convicted Trump<\/a>\u00a0<!-- -->of 34 counts of falsifying business records after Manhattan prosecutors alleged that he engaged in a &#8220;scheme&#8221; to boost his chances during the 2016 presidential election through a series of hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, then falsified New York business records to cover up that alleged criminal conduct.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump has argued the Supreme Court&#8217;s controversial <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.com%2FPolitics%2Fsupreme-court-rules-trump-absolute-immunity-criminal-prosecution%2Fstory%3Fid%3D109803999&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMarc.E.Nathanson%40abc.com%7C65b41dae99de48a1f9a808deedb2bcd5%7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6%7C1%7C0%7C639209549077732443%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=eexT4Chwqfxq71n6a2OM4iLnPvilfO%2BvxNRBDXjTJdU%3D&amp;reserved=0\" dir=\"ltr\">2024 presidential immunity decision<\/a>, which established sweeping protection from prosecution for &#8220;official acts,&#8221; made some of the evidence and testimony from the prosecution&#8217;s case off-limits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In its new filing, the district attorney&#8217;s office argued there is nothing official about paying off an adult film star to keep quiet about a long-denied affair with Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The criminal charges here arose from defendant&#8217;s unofficial, nonpresidential conduct &#8212; as multiple courts have already found, and defendant now concedes. Defendant complains that the immunity doctrine was violated because the People introduced evidence of official acts during the trial, but he is wrong,&#8221; the district attorney&#8217;s filing said, arguing that &#8220;a mountain of evidence unaffected by any claim of official presidential immunity overwhelmingly established defendant&#8217;s guilt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prosecutors also took aim at Trump&#8217;s claim the trial judge, Justice Juan Merchan, should have recused himself over $35 in Democratic political donations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur gIjeL \" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc15cccf-2cd3-43f2-ab43-389a6b4f80bf\/donald-trump-18-gty-260727_1785180946243_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc15cccf-2cd3-43f2-ab43-389a6b4f80bf\/donald-trump-18-gty-260727_1785180946243_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc15cccf-2cd3-43f2-ab43-389a6b4f80bf\/donald-trump-18-gty-260727_1785180946243_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc15cccf-2cd3-43f2-ab43-389a6b4f80bf\/donald-trump-18-gty-260727_1785180946243_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc15cccf-2cd3-43f2-ab43-389a6b4f80bf\/donald-trump-18-gty-260727_1785180946243_hpMain.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW aiQHS lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">President Donald Trump delivers remarks at General Motors&#8217; Milford Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan, July 27, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;[T]here was no basis for the trial judge to recuse himself due to his years-old and de minimis ($35 in aggregate) contributions to candidates and organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party. The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics has already found that recusal was not required, and basic principles of judicial ethics support this conclusion,&#8221; prosecutors wrote in their filing to the Appellate Division&#8217;s First Department.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Trump&#8217;s conviction carried the possibility of prison time, but Merchan sentenced Trump to an <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.com%2FUS%2Flive-updates%2Ftrump-sentencing-live-updates-president-elect-attend-sentencing%2F%3Fid%3D117531260&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMarc.E.Nathanson%40abc.com%7C65b41dae99de48a1f9a808deedb2bcd5%7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6%7C1%7C0%7C639209549077752654%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=YjBDH9KkJ6FbY%2F96FwdKgtU60pIXHZBNk3Zk5Bk1Qa0%3D&amp;reserved=0\" dir=\"ltr\">unconditional discharge<\/a>, noting the extraordinary circumstances of handing down a sentence to the then-president-elect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Manhattan district attorney&#8217;s office is urging an intermediate appellate court in New York to reject President Donald Trump&#8217;s challenges to his 2024 criminal hush money conviction that made him the first American president to be convicted of a crime and then to take office as a felon. A jury in Manhattan convicted Trump\u00a0of 34&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc15cccf-2cd3-43f2-ab43-389a6b4f80bf\/donald-trump-18-gty-260727_1785180946243_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}