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By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday backed Donald Trump's bid to move his already-decided hush money criminal case to federal court, the second time in less than a week the department has moved to help the U.S. president in a personal legal matter.
Trump was convicted last year on charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of covering up a payment to a porn star for her silence about a sexual encounter she says she had with him, which he denies. A judge on Jan. 10 sentenced him to unconditional discharge - meaning no jail or any other punishment - paving the way for his inauguration 10 days later.
He pleaded not guilty and is appealing his conviction in the first-ever criminal trial of a sitting or former U.S. president.
Trump is still trying to move the case to federal court, where he could seek to have it dismissed altogether on the basis that jurors at his trial saw evidence of acts from his first term as president. The U.S. Supreme Court last July found that U.S. presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over official acts.
In a court filing, the Justice Department urged the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling that the case belonged in state court because the case concerned personal conduct, not official acts. The department is not directly involved in the case, but said it had an interest in protecting federal officials who face personal legal risk under state law due to their responsibilities.
"The State will remain free, of course, to argue in federal court that any evidentiary use of President Trump’s official acts was somehow acceptable," Justice Department lawyers wrote. "The point for present purposes is that federal law guarantees the President a federal forum to assert that defense."
The Justice Department acknowledged that the deadline to file a brief in support of Trump was October 21, 2024, but said that was before the current administration had the chance to review the case.
In a filing later on Wednesday, Steven Wu, a lawyer with Bragg's office, said the Justice Department had not explained how the federal government's interest in the matter had changed aside from the fact that the defendant is "now the head of the Executive Branch that is seeking to support his position in this private criminal matter."
Trump's lawyer Robert Giuffra did not respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department last week moved to shield Trump from civil lawsuits by police and Democratic lawmakers seeking to hold him responsible for violence during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Department lawyers told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to replace Trump as a defendant in the litigation and have the U.S. government take his place concerning certain claims because he was "acting within the scope of his office or employment" before and during the riot.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Stephen Coates)
