Trump sentenced in felony "hush money" case, released with no restrictions
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.
Justice Juan Merchan followed through on a promise made one week ago to give Trump a sentence of unconditional discharge, which includes neither jail time nor any other restriction that might impede 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 could not be said about the circumstances surrounding the president-elect's sentencing "because of the office you once occupied and will soon occupy again." Merchan said that it was the legal protections afforded to the office of the president that were extraordinary, "not the occupant of the office."
Those legal protections were a factor that overrode all others, Merchan said, but they were not a mitigating factor. He said they did not reduce the seriousness of the crimes or erase the jury's verdict.
Merchan said he determined that the only lawful sentence he could give, without encroaching on the highest post in the land, was an unconditional discharge.
Donald Trump, the civilian, he said, might not have gotten so lenient a sentence.
In the courtroom, Trump and attorney Todd Blanche — who has also been tapped by the president-elect to serve as deputy attorney general — could be seen via video feed sitting next to each other, with two American flags visible behind them, in a room with dark wooden walls.
Trump was given the opportunity to address the court. He called the trial "a very terrible experience" and "a tremendous setback for New York."
"With all the horrible things that are going on, I got indicted for calling a legal expense a legal expense," Trump said, referring to the falsified reimbursements to a former lawyer, for a "hush money" payment at the core of the case.
"It's been a political witch hunt," Trump said on camera. "It was done to damage my reputation so that I'd lose the election, and obviously, that didn't work."
"The fact is I'm totally innocent," Trump said. "I did nothing wrong."
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 kind of remorse for his criminal conduct, 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.
"Put simply, this defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system, and has placed officers of the court in harm's way," Steinglass said. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was in attendance, in the gallery, but did not address the court.
Blanche said that he strongly disagreed with Steinglass' assessment of the case and Trump's conduct. He claimed it was not just Trump and experts cited by Trump who felt the case should not have been brought, but the majority of the American people, referring to those who voted for the Republican in November.
At every turn, Trump and his lawyers have fought Manhattan prosecutors since the beginning of the "hush money" investigation in 2018. They challenged prosecutors' subpoenas and rulings by Merchan, battling all the way to the Supreme Court multiple times, including an effort this week to stave off Friday's hearing.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court said it would not intervene on Trump's behalf, clearing the way for Merchan to issue his decision. Trump, soon after the high court's decision, said he had read it and "thought it was a fair decision, actually," noting the Supreme Court justices pointed out he could appeal and that there would be "really…no penalty."
"But we're going to appeal anyway," he added in his remarks Thursday night.
"So, I'll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun 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 arraignment brought crowds and overnight lines, on Friday morning, the general public line was sparse and no onlookers in the park across the street were visible before dawn.
Trump was found guilty in May after a seven-week trial. A unanimous jury concluded he committed 34 felonies in authorizing a scheme in 2017 to falsify records, in order to cover up reimbursements for a "hush money" payment to 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.
Multiple witnesses testified that Trump was pleased voters did not learn of Daniels' story before the 2016 election.
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 want to do is to put you in jail," Merchan said.
Merchan on Friday told Trump, "the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment of conviction without encroaching on the highest office in the land, is an unconditional discharge.
"Godspeed as you assume your second term in office," Merchan said.
