Judge Juan Merchan sentenced President-elect Donald Trump on Friday in Manhattan to no jail time, probation, or fines after he was convicted by a jury of falsifying business records.
Merchan imposed a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which does not penalize Trump but rather closes the case and clears the way for the president-elect to appeal his conviction, which Trump has said he plans to do.
The historic hearing, during which Trump appeared virtually, marked the first time in history that a former or incoming president has been sentenced for felonies. A jury found in May after a six-week trial that he engaged in an unlawful hush money scheme ahead of the 2016 election to silence porn star Stormy Daniels about an alleged affair.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Merchan said at the sentencing.
Trump, appearing remotely alongside his attorney Todd Blanche, criticized the justice system, delivering familiar remarks that he believed the prosecution was a “political witch hunt” and that he was “totally innocent.”
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump said. “I think it has been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system.”
Trump’s attorneys fought aggressively to prevent the sentencing, seeking relief from appellate courts in New York and the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court declined to grant Trump’s emergency application to block the sentencing Thursday night, hours before it was scheduled to take place.
Prosecutors, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, recommended no penalty because Trump was being sworn into office in a matter of days. They indicated that any imposition of a tangible sentence could interfere with Trump’s transition duties or his work as president, in violation of the Constitution. Merchan agreed.
“Sentencing the defendant permits this court to enter judgment [and] to cement the defendant’s status as a convicted felon while he pursues whatever appeals he intends to pursue,” Merchan said.
Trump’s low-level felony charge carried a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass lamented during the hearing that Trump’s imminent inauguration was a critical factor that let the president-elect off the hook after his aggravating behavior “before, during, and after this trial.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The defendant has purposefully bred disdain for our judicial institutions and the rule of law, and he’s done this to serve his own ends and to encourage others to reject the jury verdict that he finds so distasteful,” Steinglass said, noting that Trump had called the court proceedings “‘corrupt,’ ‘rigged,’ a ‘witch hunt,’ or a ‘sham’ too many times to tabulate.”
He added that Trump has “caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system.”
