The sentencing was triggered by a jury’s guilty verdicts in May on 34 counts of business-records falsification brought by Manhattan’s elected progressive Democratic district attorney, Alvin Bragg. Four conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh indicated that they would have granted Trump’s petition to postpone sentencing.
But In a ruling last week, denying Trump’s post-trial motions and scheduling sentencing for Friday morning, Judge Merchan indicated that he would sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge meaning no jail time, no probation, no fine, and no post-sentencing monitoring of any kind. Merchan also ruled that Trump would not need to attend the sentencing in person.
The president-elect has announced that he will not be in attendance at the courthouse in lower Manhattan on Friday. He will attend the sentencing remotely to minimize the burden the proceeding will place on the ongoing transition leading up to Inauguration Day on January 20.
The majority rationalized that Trump will not be meaningfully harmed by the sentencing, for two principal reasons. First, the Court did not rule on the merits of Trump’s contention that presidential immunity from criminal prosecution was violated by the district attorney’s introduction at trial of evidence of his official presidential acts. That is, Trump will still be able to raise on appeal his immunity claim, along with various other claims of significant error in the proceedings. The appeal cannot proceed until Trump is sentenced and the judgment is entered, so sentencing will clear the way for that process.
Second, the Court effectively locked Merchan into his stated inclination to give Trump a conditional discharge sentence. In theory, Merchan’s signaling of that intention (in a written opinion last week) was not binding technically, a judge is not supposed to decide the sentence until hearing from the parties at the sentencing proceeding, which won’t happen until Friday morning. Regardless, the Supreme Court majority’s conclusion that the sentencing poses minimal burden on Trump’s presidential transition hinges on Merchan’s assurance that he was leaning toward a no-jail, no-probation sentence.
The majority rationalized that Trump will not be meaningfully harmed by the sentencing, for two principal reasons. First, the Court did not rule on the merits of Trump’s contention that presidential immunity from criminal prosecution was violated by the district attorney’s introduction at trial of evidence of his official presidential acts. That is, Trump will still be able to raise on appeal his immunity claim, along with various other claims of significant error in the proceedings. The appeal cannot proceed until Trump is sentenced and the judgment is entered, so sentencing will clear the way for that process.
Second, the Court effectively locked Merchan into his stated inclination to give Trump a conditional discharge sentence. In theory, Merchan’s signaling of that intention (in a written opinion last week) was not binding technically, a judge is not supposed to decide the sentence until hearing from the parties at the sentencing proceeding, which won’t happen until Friday morning. Regardless, the Supreme Court majority’s conclusion that the sentencing poses minimal burden on Trump’s presidential transition hinges on Merchan’s assurance that he was leaning toward a no-jail, no-probation sentence.
If Merchan were to change his mind at this point and impose a term of incarceration, the High Court would regard it as a betrayal. Practically speaking, then, Merchan has no choice but to do what he indicated he would do. The majority also relied on Merchan’s directive that Trump did not need to attend the sentencing in person, meaning the proceeding should be brief and minimally intrusive to Trump’s conduct of the presidential transition. There is no dissenting opinion from the four conservative justices.
Presumably, they concluded that the same considerations that induced the Court to recognize presidential immunity in its July opinion (in Trump v. United States) also supported immunity for presidents-elect principally, the imperative that the president not be distracted by the anxiety and stigma attendant to criminal proceedings while executing his unparalleled constitutional responsibilities.
In presidential transitions, as Congress has legislatively underscored, a president-elect is engaged in preparing to take on those responsibilities from the first hours of a new administration.
With Trump having exhausted his avenues to prevent the sentencing, it proceeded which is just a shame but it is what it is.
This trial is a joke and we all know it is and as Trump said it's 'Great embarrassment' and he said it in the courtroom response to Judge Merchan's 'political witch hunt' trial which like he said "Should have never been brought..." The audio tape of President-elect Trump’s New York City sentencing hearing was released to the public on Friday, giving insight into the unprecedented conviction against a former president where Trump was ultimately sentenced to an unconditional discharge.
"This has been a very terrible experience," Trump, who virtually attended the criminal trial sentencing hearing, told the New York City courtroom on Friday morning. "I think it's been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system." But Trump really did express the facts here in the statement he gave as he brought up the clear fact that and I quote again "This is a case that Alvin Bragg did not want to bring.
"The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make," Merchan said, noting the court "must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances." Merchan reflected on the case, saying that "never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances." The judge said it was an "extraordinary case" with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself "was not any more unique or extraordinary" than any other case.
Merchan acknowledged that Trump is afforded significant legal protections, but argued that "one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict." This will be pardoned when he becomes President and another Appeal should be done to make sure that lump sum of money is not paid as Trump did nothing wrong, and I hope he spends a little time taking aim at this crooked Judge when he becomes President in a few days and gets the Judge disbarred and thrown in PRISON!
He thought it was, from what I read and from what I hear, inappropriately handled before he got there. And a gentleman from a law firm came in and acted as a district attorney," President Trump continued. "And that gentleman, from what I heard, was a criminal or almost criminal in what he did. It was very inappropriate. It was somebody involved with my political opponent." And he continued by saying During the hearing, Merchan defended the actions he took along the way.
"The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make," Merchan said, noting the court "must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances." Merchan reflected on the case, saying that "never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances." The judge said it was an "extraordinary case" with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself "was not any more unique or extraordinary" than any other case.
Merchan acknowledged that Trump is afforded significant legal protections, but argued that "one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict." This will be pardoned when he becomes President and another Appeal should be done to make sure that lump sum of money is not paid as Trump did nothing wrong, and I hope he spends a little time taking aim at this crooked Judge when he becomes President in a few days and gets the Judge disbarred and thrown in PRISON!
"I think it's an embarrassment to New York and New York has a lot of problems, but this is a great embarrassment," he added. At one point, Trump, appearing virtually, leaned forward, looking at Judge Juan Merchan, and referenced the November election, suggesting that it represented a repudiation of this case.
"It's been a political witch hunt," Trump explained. "It was done to damage my reputation so that I'd lose the election. And obviously, that didn't work. And the people of our country got to see this firsthand because they watched the case in your courtroom. They got to see this firsthand. And then they voted, and I won."
"It's been a political witch hunt," Trump explained. "It was done to damage my reputation so that I'd lose the election. And obviously, that didn't work. And the people of our country got to see this firsthand because they watched the case in your courtroom. They got to see this firsthand. And then they voted, and I won."
Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass stated that there was "overwhelming evidence to support the jury's verdict" and was critical of Trump, claiming the president-elect "has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm's way" with the comments he publicly made during the trial.
"I very, very much disagree with much of what the government just said about this case, about the legitimacy of what happened in this courtroom during the trial and about President Trump's conduct fighting this case from before it was indicted, while it was indicted, to the jury's verdict, and even to this day," Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said in response to the prosecution.
During the hearing, Merchan defended the actions he took along the way. "The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make," Merchan said, noting the court "must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances." Merchan reflected on the case, saying that "never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances."
The judge said it was an "extraordinary case" with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself "was not any more unique or extraordinary" than any other case.
During the hearing, Merchan defended the actions he took along the way. "The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make," Merchan said, noting the court "must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances." Merchan reflected on the case, saying that "never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances."
The judge said it was an "extraordinary case" with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself "was not any more unique or extraordinary" than any other case.
Merchan acknowledged that Trump is afforded significant legal protections, but argued that "one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict." A Verdict on charges which are a joke! The Jury was a joke, and this Judge and his daughter made money off this case.
This is a disgusting betrayal of the Judge seat he holds and this and all these corrupt judges need to be removed and disbarred. "Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume the second term in office," Merchan said at the close of the hearing.
This is a disgusting betrayal of the Judge seat he holds and this and all these corrupt judges need to be removed and disbarred. "Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume the second term in office," Merchan said at the close of the hearing.
