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Trump makes desperate push to erase his 34 felony convictions after midterm blowout

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Cite

Sisak, M. (2026, November 5). Trump makes desperate push to erase his 34 felony convictions after midterm blowout. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-appeal-conviction-stormy-daniels-b3079618.html

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The Independent · collected 2026-11-05 · by Michael Sisak

Quick Summary

Donald Trump is attempting to appeal his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York, a case that made history by convicting a former US president. The appeal focuses on claims of political pressure and legal disputes over evidence related to White House immunity, with Trump's lawyers arguing that the charges were based on insufficient evidence. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office counters that the conviction was justified by substantial evidence beyond the contested elements.
Written by AI on 2026-11-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 5, 2026, Donald Trump's legal team is set to appear before a Manhattan appeals court to challenge the former president's conviction of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. The case stems from a $130,000 payment made by his lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, aimed at silencing her during the 2016 presidential election. Despite being convicted in May 2024, Trump returned to the White House and has since been seeking ways to overturn this conviction through various legal channels.

Lawyers for Trump argue that the charges were politically motivated due to "immense political pressure" on the Democratic prosecutor Alvin Bragg at the time of the election. They assert in court filings that the case is unprecedented and politically charged, emphasizing that it should never have been brought. The appeal hearing will take place before a five-judge panel from New York's Appellate Division, First Department, where Trump’s attorneys will contend that his conviction was wrongful.

Written for “Trump's Appeal in Hush Money Case” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans right (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans right for article 131112 (high confidence, 4 verified quotes) · logged 2026-11-05

Story

📰 Trump's Appeal in Hush Money Case
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Judges to hear Trump's appeal of 2024 criminal hush money conviction Same event
ABC News (US)
Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 67/100
Trump's lawyers to argue appeal in "hush money" case Same event
CBS News
Hedges 3 of 17 claims Outlet record 65/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
2 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Michael Sisak
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 A New York appeals court will be asked on Thursday to throw out Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
2026-11-05 · assertive framing · Trump makes desperate push to erase his 34 felony convictions after midterm blowout
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Democratic New York Republican White House the White House

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 15× Cohen PERSON · 3× White House ORG · 3× Daniels PERSON · 2× New York GPE · 2× Democratic NORP · 1× Donald Trump's PERSON · 1× Republican NORP · 1× Stormy Daniels PERSON · 1× the White House ORG · 1×

Narrative

“When a president addresses the nation to defend himself from allegations of personal misconduct (as all presidents do), or discusses such communications with his aides, he is carrying out his constitutional duties and is protected by immunity,” lawyer Robert Giuffra Jr. wrote in a filing this October.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-05
🔮 A New York appeals court will be asked on Thursday to throw out Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
2026-11-05 · The Independent
Trump makes desperate push to erase his 34 felony convictions after midterm blowout · assertive framing

Claims (28 extracted, 2 hedged)

A New York appeals court will be asked on Thursday to throw out Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. asserted
court → ask → records
The case made history in May 2024, when the verdict turned Trump into the first former, and now current, US president with a criminal conviction. uncertain
verdict → make → conviction
The historic ruling did not stop him from returning to the White House, and it brought no punishment. asserted
it → stop → punishment
The charges centered on a $130,000 payment to adult film performer Stormy Daniels, made to obscure the money's true purpose. asserted
charges → center → purpose
Trump denies any wrongdoing, and has turned to state and federal courts in hopes of unwinding the verdict. asserted
Trump → deny → verdict
He is not expected to attend Thursday's court session. asserted
He → expect → session
The appeal turns on complex legal disputes, but the political overtones are hard to miss. asserted
overtones → turn → disputes
The very first paragraph of one of the Trump team's court filings contends the case was the flimsy product of “immense political pressure” on a Democratic prosecutor to go after Trump — rhetoric that echoes the Republican president's own oft-repeated claims in the court of public opinion. uncertain
that → contend → opinion
In court papers, Trump's attorneys have assailed prosecutors' legal theory as “a house of cards” built on a shaky combination of alleged state and federal offenses, with “clearly insufficient” evidence and problematic jury instructions. asserted
attorneys → assail → evidence
The appeal also concerns whether jurors should have been allowed to hear testimony about supposed White House conversations, workflow and even Trump social media posts during his first term. asserted
jurors → concern → term
His lawyers cite presidential immunity for official acts, and they argue his official conduct included responding to the Daniels drama once it became public in 2018. asserted
it → cite → 2018
“When a president addresses the nation to defend himself from allegations of personal misconduct (as all presidents do), or discusses such communications with his aides, he is carrying out his constitutional duties and is protected by immunity,” lawyer Robert Giuffra Jr. wrote in a filing this October. asserted
Jr. → address → filing
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office counters that the legal theory and jury instructions were legitimate and that the White House-related evidence was fair game. asserted
evidence → counter → ?
Some was public record, some described general office practices, and the conversations were “unofficial conduct,” prosecutors say. asserted
prosecutors → describe → practices
“A president’s discussions about a purely private matter, even with a White House advisor, do not constitute ‘official acts for which the president is immune,’” Bragg's appeals chief, Steven Wu, wrote in a filing in July. asserted
chief → constitute → July
Besides, he said, there was “a mountain” of other evidence against Trump. asserted
he → say → Trump
The trial involved $130,000 that Daniels got from Trump's then-fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, weeks before the 2016 election. asserted
Daniels → involve → election
The money bought, for a time, her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with the married Trump a decade earlier. asserted
money → buy → Trump
He says that nothing sexual happened between them. asserted
nothing → say → them
Trump's company reimbursed Cohen in 2017 and logged those payments as legal expenses. asserted
company → reimburse → expenses
Saying the transactions all were meant to keep unflattering information about Trump away from the electorate, prosecutors argue that he “orchestrated a conspiracy” that violated federal campaign finance laws, among others. asserted
that → say → others
Trump's lawyers argue there's only "weak" evidence that he even knew about Cohen's dealings at the time. asserted
he → argue → time
His trial attorneys also said that payments to Cohen were indeed legal expenses, and that any hush money expended on Trump's behalf wasn't hidden campaign spending, just an effort to avoid embarrassing his family. asserted
money → say → family
The distinction matters because, under New York law, falsifying business records isn't a felony unless it's done with an intent to commit or conceal a separate crime. asserted
it → matter → crime
While pursuing his state appeal, Trump has also been trying to shift the case to federal court and have it dismissed on immunity grounds. asserted
it → pursue → grounds
A federal judge said no — for the third time — in August. asserted
judge → say → August
Trump's attorneys are appealing that decision, and arguments are set for Nov. 16. asserted
arguments → appeal → Nov.
The conviction still nettles Trump enough that he denounced it on social media as recently as September. asserted
he → nettle → September
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