President-elect Donald Trump looks on during the America’s Turning Point Tour at the Phoenix Convention Center in December 2024 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Rebecca Noble
President-elect Donald Trump was acquitted of his criminal conviction in New York on Friday, meaning he will not face fines, jail time or other penalties.
The former and future president appeared virtually in a Manhattan courtroom Friday for his sentencing on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to an adult film star.
During the brief hearing, New York State Judge Juan Merchan said the only legal punishment that does not impinge on the office of the president is an unconditional impeachment on all 34 counts.
The results of the 2024 election came up at the hearing, with Trump just 10 days away from being sworn into the Oval Office for a second term. Trump had argued that the sentence would interfere with his ability to govern.
This was the first time a former, future or sitting US president was tried on criminal charges. And that was the only one of Trump’s criminal cases that went to trial.
“The trial was a paradox,” Merchan said, noting the high level of security and media attention. But “once the doors were closed, it was no more unique than the other 32 trials that were going on in this court at the same time.”
But while the trial may be seen as ordinary, Merchan said, the same cannot be said of the circumstances surrounding the sentencing because Trump is poised to occupy the office of president.
“Sir, I wish you speed as you assume the office of president,” Merchan said before leaving the bench.
There are no more legal options
Trump on Thursday exhausted his last legal maneuver to halt the sentence after a narrow majority of Supreme Court justices refused to intervene.
Shortly before he was formally sentenced, Merchan offered Trump the opportunity to speak. During his speech, Trump doubled down on his defense – the business records were legal expenses, not hush money payments and recorded by accountants, not him.
“I just want to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly,” Trump said, after repeating the false claim that the trial is politically motivated and arguing that he is innocent despite the jury’s conviction.
An “unconditional impeachment” means the president-elect doesn’t have to do anything, but the conviction will remain on his record. Trump has already said he plans to appeal.
“There’s nothing else the defendant has to do, and therefore it’s less restrictive in terms of how he can in any way obstruct the president-elect as he takes office,” Anna Cominsky, director. of the criminal defense clinic at New York Law School, said before the expected sentence of an unconditional discharge.
“It certainly makes sense for this case to have some closure, because as a nation, we should want to move forward, especially as he assumes the role of president, and be able to look forward to the next four years without this sentence. pending,” Cominsky said. “There must be an end.”
Of course, Trump’s legal team is determined to appeal — as they have throughout the legal process. Appeals can take years.
Since Trump’s sentencing in May, Merchan has delayed sentencing several times, including to avoid any perception of political bias before Election Day and then to allow Trump to argue that he had immunity in the case, based on a ruling of the Supreme Court. for presidential immunity.
Merchan ultimately denied the immunity claims and the impeachment, paving the way for the hearing on Friday.
Fundraising
In May, Trump became the first former or sitting US president to be tried on criminal charges and convicted.
The jury in Manhattan state court heard from 22 witnesses during about a month of testimony in Manhattan criminal court. Jurors also weighed other evidence — mostly documents such as phone records, receipts and checks for Michael Cohen, the one-time Trump loyalist, the “fixer,” who paid adult movie star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her story. of a suspect. affair with the former president.
After about a day and a half of deliberations, the 12 jurors said they unanimously agreed that Trump falsified business records to hide a $130,000 payment to Daniels in order to influence the 2016 presidential election.
But the conviction appeared to have little impact on Trump’s popularity — and eventual electoral victory — during the 2024 presidential election. He has used the legal drama to mobilize donations for his campaign and increase legal fees.
Within 24 hours of the guilty verdict, Trump’s campaign boasted of raising millions of dollars.
And 49% of the country’s voters in the November election ultimately chose to return Trump to the White House.
