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Trump tries to get 2024 conviction in hush money corruption case thrown out
Donald Trump’s lawyers are asking a New York appeals court to overturn his 2024 conviction for falsifying business records in the hush-money case. The verdict matters because it made Trump a convicted felon, and the appeal could determine whether it stands while he serves as US president.
The jury found that Trump falsified records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, made before the 2016 election through his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump denies wrongdoing and says the payments were legitimate legal expenses; prosecutors argued they were part of a scheme to keep damaging information from voters. In January 2025, the judge imposed an unconditional discharge, leaving the conviction in place but giving Trump no further penalty. Trump is also pursuing a separate effort to move the case to federal court and dismiss it on presidential-immunity grounds.
In short
- Trump is appealing his 2024 hush-money conviction.
- The case concerned a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels.
- He received no jail time, fine or other penalty.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Trump’s strongest case is that the records reflected legitimate legal expenses and that prosecutors stretched a state bookkeeping offence into a politically charged case by tying it to efforts to influence the 2016 election. His lawyers can argue that the trial should have been assessed in light of presidential immunity and that any legal errors warrant overturning the conviction, particularly given its unprecedented implications for a sitting president.
The case against
The prosecution’s case is that the jury heard evidence that the records were falsified to disguise a payment intended to keep potentially damaging information from voters before an election. On this view, the conviction applies ordinary rules against falsifying business records, and Trump’s office does not exempt him from accountability for conduct that predates his presidency.
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