Federal judge rejects Trump’s request to intervene in “hush money” case

A federal judge rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, preventing him from moving the case to federal court to seek a conviction overturn. The judge ruled that the hush money payments were private acts, not official actions. Trump’s lawyers claimed bias in the trial judge but the judge denied jurisdiction to hear those arguments. Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for September 18, and his lawyers argue that delaying it until after the election would be election interference. Prosecutors have not taken a position on delaying sentencing but are open to a schedule that allows for adjudicating Trump’s motion to overturn the verdict.