Former President Donald Trump’s legal team suffered a setback on Tuesday as a federal judge commented that his argument for moving a trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records out of state court was “far-fetched”. The comments from Judge Alvin Hellerstein were reported by NBC 4; the criminal prosecution is one of two the former president is now embroiled in as his legal entanglements continue to worsen. Mr Trump is accused in New York of falsifying business records dozens of times with the purpose of hiding a well-reported hush money scheme in which he supposedly paid his former attorney to recompense payments that the attorney, Michael Cohen, made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and other women with tales of alleged extramarital affairs with his boss. The former president has denied both the allegations of extramarital affairs as well as his own supposed role in covering them up; his ex-attorney Cohen, however, has explained his boss’s role in the scheme. Mr Trump’s attorneys had sought to see the case moved from court in New York state to a federal jurisdiction, as part of an effort to see the case dismissed on grounds that he supposedly made the payments in 2017 as part of his work as president. On Tuesday, Mr Hellerstein appeared to scoff at that argument. “It sounds a little far fetched, but that's the argument,” Mr Hellerstein reportedly said. He is set to make a final ruling on this matter within two weeks. He also added that as of yet, the Trump attorneys had provided “no reason to believe that an equal measure of justice could not be rendered by the state court”, and given no convincing evidence or arguments to support the idea that there was a “relationship to any official act of the president” and the payments. Mr Trump’s attorneys are defending him from more than 60 felony counts over two indictments; the ex-president is also accused of illegally retaining classified materials and other presidential documents at his resort at Mar-a-Lago. The ex-president continues to insist that the prosecutions are part of a political effort against him even as that argument appears to be losing traction among some establishment Republicans. Read More Biden touts his economic record in fiery speech: ‘Guess what – Bidenomics is working’ Trump’s latest defence in the classified documents case: ‘Bravado’ Chris Christie attacks Trump for diverting campaign funds to legal battles: ‘Cheapest SOB I’ve ever met’ DeSantis supporter blames Trump camp for leaking racist and antisemitic messages ‘Any Republican not named Trump’: Paul Ryan says former president is only candidate who would lose to Biden Liz Cheney lays out damning problem with US politics: ‘We’re electing idiots’

GUILFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 20, 2023--

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Russia attacked the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk with hypersonic missiles on Friday, hitting areas

The Hollies landed a major pay cheque for the use of their 70s classic 'The Air That I Breathe'.

Leigh Wood will try to regain his world title from Mauricio Lara this weekend, just three months after losing the WBA featherweight belt to the Mexican. Wood, fighting in his hometown of Nottingham, was stopped by Lara late in Round 7 in February, in what proved to be a controversial finish. The Briton was ahead on the scorecards before being dropped by Lara, 25, and Wood’s coach Ben Davison threw in the towel after his fighter had beaten the referee’s count. Most observers believed that Wood, 34, would have made it to the end of the round, and some believed that he should have been given time to recover. Others, however, defended Davison over his decision to protect his fighter. Here’s all you need to know about the rematch. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is it? The fight will take place at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday 27 May. The main card is set to begin at 7pm BST (11am PT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET), with ring walks for the main event expected at approximately 10pm BST (3pm PT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET). How can I watch it? The event will be streamed live on Dazn, a subscription to which is available at three different price points: Monthly Saver (£9.99 per month, with a 12-month commitment), Flexible (£19.99 per month, and can be cancelled at any time), and Annual Super Saver (£99.99 as a one-off payment). Odds Lara – 4/11 Wood – 11/5 Draw – 14/1 Full odds via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Mauricio Lara (C) vs Leigh Wood 2 (WBA featherweight title) Jack Catterall vs Darragh Foley (super-lightweight) Terri Harper (C) vs Ivana Habazin (WBA women’s super-welterweight title) Danny Ball vs Jamie Robinson for (vacant English welterweight title) Aqib Fiaz vs Costin Ion (super-featherweight) Campbell Hatton vs Michal Bulak (super-lightweight) William Crolla vs TBA Aaron Bowen vs TBA Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More ‘Daylight robbery’: Vasiliy Lomachenko’s team plan to appeal Devin Haney defeat Katie Taylor’s long reign as boxing queen over despite heroic last stand Joe Rogan is right: Tyson Fury has ‘no chance in hell’ against Jon Jones How to watch Wood vs Lara online and on TV this weekend Devin Haney edges past Vasiliy Lomachenko to remain unbeaten and undisputed ‘Daylight robbery’: Vasiliy Lomachenko’s team plan to appeal Devin Haney defeat

Ashley Young became Everton's first signing of the transfer window on Thursday as the 38-year-old penned a one-year...

UPS and the Teamsters have reached a tentative deal on a new contract. That could potentially avoid a strike, which could have started as soon as next week and crippled US supply chains.

John Demsey was first suspended from his $10 million-a-year Estee Lauder job and then fired due to mounting public backlash

Screenwriter David S. Goyer has revealed he and Guillermo Del Toro were going to work together on a 'Star Wars' movie a few years ago.

Greek prosecutors on Sunday charged 35 more people in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young Greek football fan before a Champions League game, taking the total to face...

Shakira and Gisele Bundchen, along with their children, had dinner at the Japanese restaurant Makoto in Miami Beach

Scholastic Inc. will end a widely criticized policy that made it easier for school book fairs not to sell works with racial, disability and LGBTQ+ themes