Judge denies Trump's effort to move N.Y. hush-money case to federal court

July 19 (UPI) -- A federal judge Wednesday denied former President Trump's legal move to transfer the Manhattan criminal business fraud case to federal court. Trump faces 34 felony counts related to hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein's ruling lets the Trump criminal fraud case trial date of March 25 stand and keeps the case in New York.

"Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the indictment is for or related to any act performed by or for the president under color of the official acts of a president," Hellerstein wrote in his ruling.

Trump had claimed that the state criminal case must be transferred to federal court because he is being prosecuted for an act under the color of his office as president.

But Hellerstein denied that.

"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the president -- a cover-up of an embarrassing event," Hellerstein wrote in his opinion. "Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president's official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president's official duties."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement when Trump was indicted, "The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."

The twice-impeached and twice-criminally indicted Trump faces two more possible criminal indictments plus civil lawsuits as he campaigns to be elected president again.

According to Trump, himself, he recently received a letter from Special Prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is a target of the criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

In the Manhattan case, Trump is charged with the felony business fraud for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election.

Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen went to prison on charges related to that payment.