Trump lawyers argue hush money conviction appeal
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Trump's lawyers asked a five-judge New York appeals panel to overturn his 2024 hush money conviction.
The verdict made him the first U.S. president with a criminal conviction.
Background
Donald Trump, President of the United States, was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. The money came from his then-fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, and Trump's company reimbursed Cohen in 2017, logging the payments as legal expenses. He was sentenced in January 2025 to an unconditional discharge — no fines, jail time or probation — days before his inauguration. His lawyers, led by Robert Giuffra Jr., co-chair of the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, argue the trial judge should have recused himself, that parts of the trial were shielded by presidential immunity, and that prosecutors stretched New York law to target Trump.
How it unfolded
- May 2024A unanimous New York jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.
- Jul 2024The Supreme Court issued its presidential immunity ruling, later cited in Trump's hush money appeal.
- Jan 2025Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge days before his inauguration, meaning no fines, jail time or probation.
- Oct 28, 2025Trump's lawyers, led by Robert Giuffra Jr., filed a 96-page appeal of the Manhattan hush money conviction.
- Jul 2026Bragg's appeals chief Steven Wu filed a brief calling the 2016 hush money plan a conspiracy to defraud the American public and government regulators.
- Oct 16, 2026Trump's attorney Robert Giuffra filed an appeal brief beginning with the line the case should have never been brought.
- Nov 5, 2026Trump's lawyers appeared before a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, to argue the 2024 conviction should be overturned; Trump was not expected to attend.
Key terms
- Appellate Division
- The intermediate appellate court of New York State, divided into four judicial departments.
- felony
- A crime traditionally considered more serious than a misdemeanor, often punishable by imprisonment or death.
- presidential immunity
- The concept that sitting U.S. presidents have civil or criminal immunity for their official acts.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Defense
- Trump's lawyers call it the most politically charged prosecution in the nation's history, saying the DA concocted a felony by stacking time-barred misdemeanors and that the case should never have seen the inside of a courtroom.
- Prosecution
- Bragg's office says the legal theory and jury instructions were legitimate, that the charges arose from Trump's unofficial, non-presidential conduct, and that there is a mountain of other evidence against him.
- Court
- U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote that reimbursing Cohen for advancing hush money cannot be considered a constitutional duty and that paying hush money or covering up an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity.
Still unverified
The alleged sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels years earlier; Trump has denied the allegations.