President Donald Trump’s legal team is returning to court in hopes of wiping away the 34 felony convictions that made him the first former U.S. president found guilty of a crime.
Trump’s attorneys will appear before a New York appeals court Thursday, Nov. 5, seeking to reverse his May 2024 hush money verdict.
The case centers on a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 election.
Daniels claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier, an allegation the president has repeatedly denied. Trump’s company later reimbursed Cohen and recorded the payments as legal expenses.
Prosecutors later argued that the records were falsified to conceal an unlawful effort to influence the election. But Trump’s attorneys insist the evidence was “clearly insufficient” and that jurors improperly considered communications involving his presidency.
In an October filing, attorney Robert Giuffra Jr. maintained that presidential immunity protects certain communications with White House aides. Prosecutor Steven Wu countered that discussions about “a purely private matter” do not become protected presidential duties simply because an adviser is involved.
Trump was sentenced to no jail time, fines, or probation after his conviction.
The president is not expected to appear in court today.
