Trump's lawyers to argue appeal in "hush money" case

More than two years after President Trump was convicted of 34 felonies tied to a 2016 "hush money" payment to an adult film star, his lawyers are set to argue their appeal Thursday in New York.Mr. Trump's attorneys in the case have changed — one former defense attorney, Todd Blanche, is now U.S. attorney general, and another, Emil Bove III, is a federal judge — but his new team of personal lawyers has continued in filings to echo the arguments he made throughout the trial in 2024.An Oct. 16 filing by Mr. Trump's attorney Robert Giuffra, the powerful co-chair of the white shoe firm Sullivan & Cromwell, began with a line that Mr.

Trump himself frequently said and posted on social media: The case, "should have never been brought."Lawyers for Mr. Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will each get 15 minutes to respond to questions from New York's mid-level appeals panel, the Appellate Division, First Department. Each side has indicated that the case is destined for the state's highest court, called the Court of Appeals, and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court.A unanimous jury convicted Mr. Trump in May 2024 for his part in a scheme to falsify business records related to reimbursements made to Michael Cohen, his attorney at the time. Cohen had paid $130,000 to adult film