Judge Juan Merchan has sentenced Donald Trump to unconditional discharge.
“The only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment or conviction without encroaching upon the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan told Trump.
The sentencing, which was expected, means Trump will remain a felon but faces no jail time, penalties or probation for his conviction in the hush money case.
Trump did not react as Merchan concluded the hearing.
Judge Juan Merchan says he need not repeat the aggravating factors that he has already articulated in his recent orders.
“However the considerable, indeed extraordinary, legal protections afforded the office of the chief executive is a factor that overrides all others,” he says.
“They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way,” Merchan says of the legal protections for the office of the presidency.
Merchan noted that voters ultimately decided to bestow Trump the protections of the office once again.
“Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections. It is the office of the president that bestows those to the office holder. It is the citizenry of this nation that recently decided that you should once again receive the benefits of those protections,” he says.
Judge Juan Merchan is speaking to Donald Trump and is noting that it’s the office of the presidency that is extraordinary, not the occupant of the office.
“It is the legal protections afforded to the office of the president of the United States that are extraordinary, not the occupant of the office,” he said.
Merchan says that once the courtroom doors closed, the trial was not different from any other in the courthouse.
Judge Juan Merchan says, “never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstance.”
“This has been a truly extraordinary case,” he adds.
Donald Trump insisted he is innocent at his sentencing hearing this morning. “The fact is I’m totally innocent. I did nothing wrong,” he says.
“It’s been a political witch hunt, it was done to damage my reputation,” President-elect Donald Trump says.
Todd Blanche, an attorney for President-elect Donald Trump, says the legal team intends to appeal the verdict.
“A lot of what the government just said presupposes that this case is legally appropriate,” Blanche said following prosecutor Joshua Steinglass’s comments in court. Blache noted that Trump’s lawyers intend to appeal the verdict.
“A majority of the American people also agree that this case should not have been brought,” Blanche added. CNN