Appearing in court virtually from his Mar-a-Lago home Friday, President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced for his crimes in the New York “hush money” case and released with no restrictions.
Judge Juan Merchan followed a promise made a week ago to give Trump an unconditional release sentence, which includes neither a criminal sentence nor any other restrictions that could obstruct Trump after his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Merchan said during sentencing Friday that he was granting that sentence because he believed it was the only legal option, just 10 days before Trump assumes the presidency.
Merchan told the court that “this has been a truly extraordinary case,” even though once the courtroom doors closed, the trial itself had been in his estimation no more special or unique than any other.
However, he told Trump, the same cannot be said of the cases surrounding the conviction of the elected president “due to the workplace he has occupied and will soon occupy. ” He is not the occupant of the workplace. “
These legal protections were something that surpassed everyone else, Merchan said, however, they were not something mitigating. He said they did not decrease the severity of the crimes or erased the jury’s verdict.
Merchan said he decided that the only legal penalty he can pronounce, without invading the highest position in the country was an unconditional release.
Donald Trump, the civilian, he said, has not received such a lenient sentence.
In the Court Chamber, Trump and the lawyer of Todd Blanche, who was also operated through the preaspeta, chosen to serve as a general subcropper, can notice through an appearance of video flow through the appearance, with two Visible American flags, in a room with dark wood walls.
Trump had a chance to touch the court. He described the trial as “a very horrible experience” and “a massive setback for New York. ”
“With all the terrible things that happen, I have been accused of calling legal expenses a legal expense,” Trump said, referring to falsified refunds to a former lawyer, for a “silent” payment in the center of the case.
“It’s a political search for witches,” Trump told the camera. “My reputation was damaged to lose the elections, and obviously, it didn’t work. “
“The fact is that I am completely innocent,” Trump said. “I didn’t harm anything. “
Ahead of sentencing, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said Trump’s actions in attacking the judicial system and prosecutors in this case “constitutes a direct attack on the rule of law itself.”
“Far from expressing any type of regret for his Crook behavior, the accused intentionally increased the disdain of our judicial establishments and the rule of law, and did so to serve his own purposes and inspire others to reject the jury’s verdict that It is so unpleasant, “Steinglass said.
“In undeniable terms, this defendant caused harm caused through the public’s belief in the Crook’s formula of justice and placed court officials in the path of danger,” Steinglass said. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg provides in the gallery but did not stand in court.
Blanche said she strongly disagreed with Steinglass’ assessment of the case and Trump’s conduct. He said it wasn’t just Trump and Mavens through Trump, who the idea that the case hasn’t been raised, but the majority of the American people, referring to those who voted for the Republican in November.
To each one, Trump and his lawyers have fought against Manhattan’s prosecutors since the investigation of the investigation of the “Silence Money” in 2018. They implied the tasks of the prosecutors and decisions of Merchan, fighting several times to the Supreme Court, Even an effort this week effort for the audience on Friday.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court said it would not interfere on Trump’s behalf, paving the way for Merchan to make his decision. Trump, at one time after the High Court’s decision, said he read it and “thought it was a fair decision, in fact,” noting that Supreme Court justices under pressure to simply appeal and that it would have “really been stretched. . No penalty. “
“But we will do it anyway,” he added in his comments on Thursday night.
“So I will do my little thing tomorrow. They can laugh with their political opponent,” Trump said.
Although there are no cameras in the courtroom, an audio recording of the proceedings will be released after the hearing concludes.
While Trump’s trial and indictment brought crowds and night lines Friday morning, the general public line sparse and no spectators in the park on the other side of the pre-dawn street view.
Trump discovered guilt in May after a seven -week trial. A unanimous jury concluded that he had committed 34 crimes through the authorization of a program in 2017 to falsify the records, to cover the reimbursements of a “silent money” to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels testified during the trial, as did Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen, who received the falsified reimbursements for his wire to Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen gave Daniels the $130,000 payment in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
Several witnesses said Trump aloraba with the electorate had not learned the story of Daniels before the 2016 elections.
Merchan held Trump in contempt 10 times during the trial for violations of a gag order barring him from making public comments about witnesses, court staff and others. In issuing the 10th contempt citation, Merchan — who frequently acknowledged the unique circumstances of the trial and its famed, powerful defendant — foreshadowed Friday’s likely sentence.
“The last thing I must do is put you in jail,” said Merchan.
Marchan told Trump on Friday: “The only legal sentence that makes a conviction without invading the post in the country is an unconditional release.
“Godspeed when you’re your moment of the moment,” Merchan said.