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Did trump win his appeal against the felonys
Executive summary
Available reporting shows President Trump has not yet prevailed in overturning his 34-count New York felony conviction; his legal team has filed appeals and won procedural victories that could lead to federal review, and the U.S. Justice Department has urged a state appeals court to reverse the conviction [1] [2] [3]. Federal appeals panels have ordered lower courts to reconsider whether the case can be moved to federal court — a step that, if successful, would allow immunity arguments tied to a Supreme Court presidential-immunity decision to be litigated in federal court and could, in theory, lead to the conviction being vacated [4] [5] [6].
1. What happened so far: conviction, appeals and the basic posture
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump in 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments; he later appealed that conviction in New York state court and separately asked federal courts to consider removing the case to federal jurisdiction so he could press presidential-immunity arguments [1] [6] [7]. After his May 2024 conviction and a January sentencing that imposed no punishment, Trump’s lawyers filed a detailed appeal in the First Department arguing trial errors and that evidence about his official acts should have been off-limits under later Supreme Court guidance [1] [8].
2. Procedural wins — not a reversal yet
Federal appeals courts have granted Trump procedural wins: a three-judge panel in the Second Circuit ordered a lower court to take another look at whether the case should be moved from state to federal court, saying the district judge should consider “important issues relevant” to removal and immunity — but the panel expressly declined to predict the outcome [4] [5] [9]. Those rulings keep alive a path that could lead federal judges to decide whether the conviction must be revisited, but they do not themselves vacate the New York conviction [2] [4].
3. The immunity argument at the heart of the appeal
Trump’s appeals lean heavily on a Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity issued after his trial; his lawyers say that testimony and other evidence about actions taken while he was president — including testimony by former White House aides — should have been excluded because the immunity ruling shields “official acts” [6] [8]. Federal and state courts must now sort out how broadly that immunity applies and whether it requires undoing the conviction [7] [1].
4. The Justice Department’s unusual intervention
In a striking development, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging a New York state appeals court to reverse the conviction, arguing that the trial allowed evidence that intruded on presidential immunity and that the federal interest in protecting the presidency warrants reversal [3] [10]. DOJ’s filing underscores the gravity of the federal claims but does not itself decide the appellate questions [3].
5. What a successful transfer or reversal would mean — and limits to that outcome
If a federal court accepts removal and concludes the immunity decision bars the prosecution’s use of the challenged evidence, the conviction could be vacated or the case dismissed — potentially ending Trump’s status as a convicted felon in this matter [6] [2]. But appeals courts so far have been careful: the Second Circuit instructed lower courts to reconsider procedure without expressing a view on the ultimate immunity merits, and state appellate review of the conviction remains pending, meaning years of litigation could follow [4] [1].
6. Competing viewpoints and implicit agendas in coverage
Trump’s team frames the appeals as correcting constitutional violations and protecting the presidency from state encroachment [8] [1]. Prosecutors and some observers view the convictions as based on established state-law theories about falsified records tied to an effort to influence an election; they argue immunity should not be a shield for core criminal conduct (available sources do not mention direct prosecutorial rebuttals on every point). DOJ’s brief aligns federal lawyers with Trump’s immunity theory, which critics may see as politically fraught because the federal government is intervening on behalf of a sitting president [3] [10].
7. Bottom line for your question — did Trump win his appeal?
As of the available reporting, Trump has not won an appellate ruling that overturns the 34 felony convictions; he has won procedural victories that allow further federal consideration of immunity and removal issues and has the DOJ urging reversal, but the conviction remains subject to ongoing appeals in state and federal courts [4] [3] [1]. The outcome remains unsettled and hinges on whether courts ultimately accept the broader immunity reading and transfer or reverse the state conviction [5] [2].