Former President Donald Trump and his legal team have decided to appeal the federal judge's recent decision to keep the so-called hush-money case in New York, ABC News reports. 

This is the same case that has been brought against Trump by the George Soros-backed Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg.

Bragg has charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Background

The Washington Times reports that Bragg has accused Trump of "falsifying business records to hide reimbursements made to his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen."

The reimbursement payments were made by Trump to Cohen, according to the Times, "for [Cohen's] role in paying $130,000 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier" and for Cohen's role in arranging "for the National Enquirer to pay Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about an alleged affair."

Trump denies having sexual relations with either woman and he denies that he paid Cohen to cover anything up. Accordingly, Trump has pled not guilty to the charges.

It is worth pointing out that legal experts, including many legal experts who are not supporters of Trump, have argued that Bragg's case against Trump is dubious at best.

The venue battle

Trump and his legal team have been trying to get the case moved from state court to federal court.

The Hill explains:

Trump sought to remove the state case to federal court, arguing it must be transferred because it involves important federal questions, including whether he should face charges for alleged crimes that occurred while he was in office. Doing so would increase the potential jury pool, which is currently limited to the heavily-Democratic population of Manhattan.

Last week, however, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected Trump's request, ruling that the case ought to remain in state court.

Now, Trump has decided to appeal Hellerstein's ruling. According to ABC News, Trump's legal team filed a notice of appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Friday.

Going forward

Trump is scheduled to stand trial in state court on March 25, 2024.

There is currently, however, a massive battle going on over preliminary issues, such as the venue. In addition to this, Trump is trying to get the judge overseeing the case in state court - Judge Juan Manuel Merchan - to step aside because of the judge's many ties to Democrats.

These preliminary moves from Trump are an attempt to obtain a fair trial in an area of the country that is dominated by Democrats.