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Just 10 days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, a New York judge has now officially labeled him as a ‘convicted felon.’
From the Washington Examiner: Judge Juan Merchan sentenced President-elect Donald Trump on Friday to no jail time, probation, or fines after he was convicted by a jury of falsifying business records.
Merchan imposed a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which does not penalize Trump but rather closes the case and clears the way for the president-elect to appeal his conviction, which Trump has said he plans to do.
The historic hearing, during which Trump appeared virtually, marked the first time in history that a former or incoming president has been sentenced for felonies. A jury found in May that he engaged in an unlawful hush money scheme ahead of the 2016 election to silence porn star Stormy Daniels about an alleged affair.
Merchan acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the event, saying that “never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances.”
As Merchan concluded his sentencing, he said to Trump, “Sir, I wish you godspeed as you assume a second term in office.”
Trump elected to appear virtually from Mar-a-Lago for Merchan’s sentencing. Condemning the entire case, Trump said, “It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election. I am totally innocent. I did nothing wrong.”
“This is a case that without a doubt was brought by a district attorney who promised he would go after President Trump if elected, and he had to go through with that promise,” Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, said.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass dramatically slammed the “defendant’s conduct,” claiming that Trump has “shown disdain for our institutions and the rule of law, all for his own ends.”
Trump has called the case “corrupt, rigged, a witch hunt, and a sham too many times to count…. and his rhetoric has only ratcheted up since the verdict,” Steinglass raged.
Steinglass continued his rant, saying, “Trump’s actions in the proceedings constitute a direct attack on the rule of law itself. Moreover, the defendant has publicly threatened to retaliate against the prosecution.
“Such threats are designed to have a chilling effect, intimidate those who have the responsibility to enforce our laws in the hopes that they will ignore the defendants transgressions bc they fear he is too powerful to be subjected to rule of law like the rest of us,” he wildly alleged.
“Put simply, this defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system,” Steinglass claimed.
The sentencing will now allow Trump to appeal the guilty verdict of the entire case, which Trump has noted is a “political witch hunt.”
Trump released the following statement on Truth Social immediately after the sentencing:
The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE.
That result alone proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED.
The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this “case” had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference.
Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Jan 09, 2025, 8:02 PM ET )I appreciate the time and effort of the United States Supreme Court in trying to remedy the great injustice done to me by the highly conflicted “Acting Justice,” who should not have been… pic.twitter.com/SJ7hhkivsN
— Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) January 10, 2025
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