President-elect Donald Trump will be sentenced in his hush money case on January 10, days before his scheduled return to the White House, a New York judge ruled Saturday. In his 18-page ruling, Judge Juan Merchant said Trump would be given conditional release, meaning the case would be dismissed if the Republican avoided rearrest.
The judge said the former president could attend the sentencing in person or virtually.
“It seems appropriate at this time to make clear the court’s intention not to impose any prison sentence…The prosecution does not believe that a prison sentence is a realistic recommendation,” he said. Ta.
Trump will not be jailed, but the sentencing will see the 78-year-old Republican enter the White House as a convicted felon.
What is a hush money case?
The hush money lawsuit stems from allegations that Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who met with the former president during the 2016 campaign. He claims that he received the money to keep quiet about the affair allegations. .
Cohen, who took the stand, agreed to pay Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence. He also claimed he did so at Trump’s direction.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied this claim.
But last May, he was convicted of 34 felony counts of violating state election law for falsifying business records related to the payments. Although hush money payments are not illegal, the Manhattan district attorney’s office argued that Trump “committed a crime” by improperly recording the money he paid Cohen as legal expenses.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have since sought to dismiss the case on multiple grounds, including last year’s decision to grant the former U.S. president blanket immunity from prosecution for various public acts he committed while in office. This includes the Supreme Court’s landmark decision.
Trump condemns his sentence
The US president-elect is expected to appeal the decision, which could potentially delay the verdict, but he denounced the decision as an “unwarranted political attack.”
“This illegal political attack is nothing but a fraudulent sham,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.
A Republican spokesperson said Trump’s ruling was a “violation of executive privilege.” “Today’s order by Acting Judge Marchand, who is deeply divided over the Manhattan DA’s witch hunt, is a direct response to the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and other longstanding precedents,” Stephen Chan, President Trump’s incoming communications director, told AFP. This is a violation of the law.”
