Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment. The outcome cements Trump’s conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.
Trump’s sentence of an unconditional discharge caps a norm-smashing case that saw the former and future president charged with 34 felonies, put on trial for almost two months and convicted on every count. Yet, the legal detour — and sordid details aired in court of a plot to bury affair allegations — didn’t hurt him with voters, who elected him to a second term.
Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison. Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.
Merchan noted that despite the extraordinary circumstances, the trial itself carried the hallmarks of every other proceeding in this courthouse.
“It is the legal protections afforded to the office of the president of the United States that are extraordinary, not the occupant,” he said.
Merchan says a judge must consider the facts of the case as well as aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” he said.
Trump argued that voters saw what happened in this courtroom and, like him, thought it was a disgrace and supported him overwhelmingly in the election.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.