Presenting the court practically of his home Mar-a-lago on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump convicted of his crimes in the “Hush Money” case of New York and released without restrictions.
Judge Juan Merchan followed a promise made a week ago to give Trump an unconditional liberation sentence, which does not include a criminal sentence or any other restriction that can obstruct Trump after his inauguration on January 20.
Merchan said Friday’s conviction that he granted this sentence because the idea that it was the only legal option, only 10 days before Trump assumed the presidency.
Merchan told the court that “it was an ordinary case on the point of fact,” even though once the courtroom doors came out, the trial itself had been no more special or exclusive than any other.
However, he told Trump, the same may not be the same with cases surrounding the president-elect’s conviction “because of the workplace he occupied and will soon occupy. “Merchan said the legal protections afforded to the president’s workplace were extraordinary, “not the occupant of the workplace. “
These legal protections were something that surpassed everyone else, Merchan said, however, they were not something mitigating. He said they did not decrease the severity of the crimes or erased the jury’s verdict.
Merchan said he determined that the only lawful sentence he could give, without encroaching on the highest post in the land, was an unconditional discharge.
Donald Trump, the civilian, he said, has not received such an indulgent sentence.
In the courtroom, Trump and attorney Todd Blanche, who has also been exploited through the president-elect to serve as deputy attorney general, may be noticed through the side-by-side video feed, with two American flags displayed, in a room with dark wood walls.
Trump had the opportunity to touch the court. He described the trial as “a very horrible experience” and “a massive reverse for New York. ”
“With all the horrible things that are going on, I got indicted for calling a legal expense a legal expense,” Trump said, referring to the falsified reimbursements to a former lawyer, for a “hush money” payment at the core of the case.
“It’s been a political witch hunt,” Trump said on camera. “It was done to damage my reputation so that I’d lose the election, and obviously, that didn’t work.”
“The fact is I’m totally innocent,” Trump said. “I did nothing wrong.”
Ahead of sentencing, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said Trump’s actions in attacking the judicial system and prosecutors in this case “constitutes a direct attack on the rule of law itself.”
“Far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct, the defendant has purposefully bred disdain for our judicial institutions and the rule of law, and he’s done this to serve his own ends, and to encourage others to reject the jury verdict that he finds so distasteful,” Steinglass said.
“Put simply, this defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system, and has placed officers of the court in harm’s way,” Steinglass said. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was in attendance, in the gallery, but did not address the court.
Blanche said that he strongly disagreed with Steinglass’ assessment of the case and Trump’s conduct. He claimed it was not just Trump and experts cited by Trump who felt the case should not have been brought, but the majority of the American people, referring to those who voted for the Republican in November.
At every turn, Trump and his lawyers have fought Manhattan prosecutors since the beginning of the “hush money” investigation in 2018. They challenged prosecutors’ subpoenas and rulings by Merchan, battling all the way to the Supreme Court multiple times, including an effort this week to stave off Friday’s hearing.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court said it would not intervene on Trump’s behalf, clearing the way for Merchan to issue his decision. Trump, soon after the high court’s decision, said he had read it and “thought it was a fair decision, actually,” noting the Supreme Court justices pointed out he could appeal and that there would be “really…no penalty.”
“But we’re going to appeal anyway,” he added in his remarks Thursday night.
“So, I’ll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent,” Trump said.
Although there are no cameras in the courtroom, an audio recording of the proceedings will be released after the hearing concludes.
While Trump’s trial and arraignment brought crowds and overnight lines, on Friday morning, the general public line was sparse and no onlookers in the park across the street were visible before dawn.
Trump discovered guilt in May after a seven -week trial. A unanimous jury concluded that he had committed 34 crimes through the authorization of a program in 2017 to falsify the records, to cover the reimbursements of a “silent money” to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels testified at trial, as did Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen, who won the counterfeit refunds of his thread at Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen gave Daniels the $130,000 payment in exchange for her silence in an alleged sex assembly with Trump for years before.
Several witnesses said Trump faced the electorate who had not learned about Daniels’ history before the 2016 elections.
Merchan arrested Trump 10 times during the trial for violating a gag order that forbids public comments on witnesses, court personnel and others. When issuing the tenth appointment of contempt, Merchan, who has declared the exclusive cases of the trial and scored and the hard defendant: he pressed the sentence probably on Friday.
“The last thing I must do is put you in jail,” said Merchan.
Merchan told Trump on Friday: “The only legal sentence that allows access to a conviction trial without invading the highest on Earth is an unconditional high.
“Godspeed when you are your moment,” said Merchan.