Trump avoids jail or punishment in hush money sentencing days before Reuters impeachment

By Luc Cohen and Jack Queen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will not go to jail or face any other punishment in his criminal case stemming from hush money paid to a sex star, a judge ruled on Friday but said Trump’s January 20 inauguration will not. cancel the judges’ decision.

Justice Juan Merchan’s sentencing Trump, 78, to be released without conditions puts a conviction on his record and closes the case that had been considered for Trump to take the White House.

Trump will be the first president to take office on a felony conviction.

Merchan said that he is issuing this sentence that spares Trump prison, a fine or a trial because the US Constitution protects presidents from criminal prosecution. But he said the defense offered by the office “does not diminish the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way.”

“The tremendous, amazing, legal protection that the office of the chief executive provides is a factor that surpasses all others,” Merchan said. “Despite the unusual scope of those protections, one of the powers they do not grant is the power to overturn jury decisions.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty and has vowed to appeal the decision. Appearing with his lawyer on lit TV screens in the courtroom with two American flags in the background, Trump called the case a failed attempt to block his re-election campaign.

“This was a terrible incident,” Trump said before handing down the sentence, wearing a red tie with white stripes.

“I am completely innocent, I have done nothing wrong,” he said.

Trump did not testify during the six-week trial last year but has repeatedly disparaged Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case, in public statements.

Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor working in Bragg’s office, said during the trial that Trump was involved in a “collusive campaign” to undermine the merits of the case and “intentionally brought contempt on our judicial institutions.”

He said prosecutors support the sentence of unconditional release.

“The decision in this case was unanimous and final, it must be respected,” said Steinglass.

Now that he has been convicted, Trump is free to pursue an appeal, a process that could take years and continue during his four-year term as president.

“Now that it’s over, we’re going to take this Hoax forward,” Trump wrote on social media after Friday’s hearing.

Trump has fought tooth and nail to avoid the spectacle of being forced to appear before a federal judge very close to where he is due to be sworn into office. The US Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Trump’s request for a last-minute stay.

Merchan closed the half-hour hearing by saying: “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you take up your second term in office.”

PAYMENT $130,000

The six-week trial last year played out against the dramatic backdrop of Trump’s successful campaign to retake the White House.

Bragg, a Democrat, sued Trump, a Republican, in March 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to movie star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about having sex, he said. he was with Trump, who denied it.

Trump defeated Mrs. Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Alliance in that election.

A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts on May 30. Prosecutors argued that while the allegations were serious, the case was about trying to interfere in the 2016 election.

Critics of this businessman who is also a politician pointed out the cases and other legal issues he has faced to strengthen their contention that he is not fit to be in public office.

Trump flipped the script. He said the case – along with three other criminal and civil charges accusing him of fraud, defamation and sexual harassment – was an attempt by opponents to rig the justice system against him and damage his re-election campaign. He often berated prosecutors and witnesses, and Merchan eventually fined Trump $10,000 for violating the gag order.

As recently as Jan. 3, Trump called the judge a “radical partisan” in a post on his Truth Social forum.

COMBINED POLITICAL FUND

The hush money case was considered more serious than the three other criminal charges Trump faces, in which he is accused of trying to reverse his 2020 election loss and keeping classified documents after leaving the White House. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

But Bragg’s case was the only one to go to trial amid challenges from Trump’s lawyers. After Trump’s November 5 election victory, federal prosecutors dropped two of their indictments because of the Justice Department’s policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

The rest of the district’s case, which was brought in Georgia in an attempt to overturn the results of that state’s 2020 election, remains in limbo after a court in December recused the lead prosecutor in the case.

The peace money case was mixed with politics. Donations to Trump’s campaign increased after his impeachment in March 2023, which may have helped him defeat his rivals for the Republican nomination. During the trial, polls showed that the majority of voters took the charges seriously, and his standing among Republicans declined after his decision.

But the case quickly faded from the headlines, especially after President Joe Biden protested the debate that led to his ouster of Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket, and after a gunman’s bullet came off Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Merchan began planning the sentencing on July 11, but pushed it back several times at Trump’s request. In agreeing in September to delay sentencing until after the election, the judge wrote that he was wary of being seen as putting his thumb on the scale.

Tampering with business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. While it would be unlikely for Trump to be arrested due to his age and lack of criminal history, legal experts said it was not impossible, especially given the violation of the gag order.

Trump’s victory and impending inauguration make a prison sentence or probation less effective.