Attorneys for Donald Trump are scheduled to present oral arguments Thursday before a New York appeals panel seeking to overturn his 2024 conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The appeal will be heard by the Appellate Division, First Department, New York’s mid-level appeals court. Lawyers for both the defense and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office will each have 15 minutes to address the panel regarding the verdict reached by a unanimous jury in May 2024.
The case originated from a $130,000 payment made by Mr. Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, to Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Prosecutors alleged the payment was part of a scheme to ensure her silence regarding an alleged sexual encounter, which Mr. Trump has denied. The 2024 trial focused on the subsequent reimbursement of Cohen, which prosecutors argued was recorded as legal expenses to defraud regulators and the public, while the defense maintained the records were handled correctly.
Defense attorney Robert Giuffra argued in an October 16 filing that the case "should have never been brought," contending that federal election laws should have preempted the state-level prosecution. The defense also claims the trial violated presidential immunity and that prosecutors failed to prove an "intent to defraud." Conversely, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office described the matter in a July brief as a "conspiracy to defraud the American public," asserting that the charges stemmed from "unofficial, non-presidential conduct."
For the general public, the case highlights the legal boundary between a president's official duties and their private conduct. The late Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who handled a parallel effort to move the case to federal court, previously ruled that reimbursing an attorney for "hush money" and falsifying records to hide it does not relate to constitutional duties. A person following this case would notice the outcome primarily through its impact on Mr. Trump’s legal standing and the potential for the case to influence how future state prosecutors handle cases involving federal candidates or former presidents.
The immediate next step is the oral argument session this Thursday. Both sides have indicated that regardless of the mid-level panel's decision, they expect the case to be appealed further to the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court. No specific date for a final ruling has been reported, as the panel will first need to deliberate on the arguments presented this week.