WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nexstar Media Group) — President-elect Donald Trump won’t face prison time, probation or a fine, but he will take office as the first U.S. President with a felony conviction.
New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an “unconditional discharge,” on Friday, for his hush money case. A New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
“In layman’s terms, no strings attached. He’s convicted and that’s pretty much it,” said Derrick Hogan, a criminal defense attorney who practices at the Tully Rinckey law firm in New York. “If this was your ordinary citizen, I find it very hard to believe they would just receive an unconditional discharge.”
Judge Merchan said because of President-elect Trump’s election, an unconditional discharge was the only reasonable outcome.
“The considerable, indeed extraordinary legal protections afforded by the office of the Chief Executive is a factor that overrides all others,” Judge Merchan said in court on Friday.
Merchan added, those factors “do not reduce the seriousness of the crime.”
President-elect Trump appeared for his sentencing virtually and spoke before he was sentenced.
“I got indicted over calling a legal expense a legal expense,” President-elect Trump said. “It was done to damage my reputation so that I’d lose the election.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the case politically motivated, in a statement released after the sentencing. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) tweeted the case was a “baseless NYC liberal activist charade.”
President-elect Trump’s attorneys are also fighting to prevent the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report.
