After months of delay, legal sparring, and constitutional uncertainty, President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to an “unconditional discharge” over his felony conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The “unconditional discharge” sentence — which is what the prosecution requested — allows Trump to avoid any prison time, fines, probation, or other punishment, as in just over a week he will be sworn in as president and receive immunity from legal repercussions.
Trump appeared in court virtually from Florida to receive his sentence, sitting next to personal attorney Todd Blanche — whom Trump has tapped to serve as deputy attorney general. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted the case, appeared in person. Judge Juan Merchan, who has been presiding over the case, referred to Trump as Mr. Trump, and noted that “this has been a truly extraordinary case” that was “conducted according to the rules of procedure and guided by the law.”
Trump put it a little differently. “This has been a very terrible experience. I think it’s been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system,” he said ahead of the sentencing, adding that he is “totally innocent” and “did nothing wrong.”
Trump was fundraising off the sentencing earlier on Friday. “I’m being sentenced today — just so they can label me a FELON before I’m sworn in,” read an email to supporters. “All hell breaks loose today!” was the subject line.
In the aftermath of his election victory in November, the federal criminal cases against Trump were scrapped, given his pending return to the White House, his authority over the Justice Department, and the protections from prosecution granted to sitting presidents. His criminal case in Georgia is also on ice, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was recently disqualified from handling the prosecution.
Trump and his legal team have been trying to have his conviction in New York thrown out, citing a Supreme Court ruling this summer granting presidents immunity from prosecution for “official” acts committed while in office. They have been unable to do so, and earlier this month Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the sentencing would proceed. Merchan noted, however, that incarceration was an unlikely outcome.
“It was the premediated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world that is the gravamen of this offense,” Merchan wrote in his ruling. “To vacate this verdict on the grounds that the charges are insufficiently serious given the position Defendant once held, and is about to assume again, would constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law.”
In a last ditch effort to avoid accountability for his actions, Trump’s attorneys appealed to the New York Court of Appeals to block the sentencing, a request that was summarily rejected on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the president-elect filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, requesting sentencing be halted.
“This court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
The Supreme Court did not oblige him, rejecting the request on Thursday in a 5-4 vote. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, one of the three justices Trump picked to join the high court, sided with the three liberal justices. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito sided with the president.
Alito spoke to Trump earlier this week, the day before Trump made his request, but claims they did not discuss his legal trouble. “We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” Alito told ABC News. “We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the President-elect.”
Trump responded to the Supreme Court rejecting his plea on Truth Social by attacking Judge Merchan and noting that he “will be appealing this case.” He didn’t seem too concerned while speaking to the press. “I read it and I thought it was a fair decision, actually,” he said. “So, I’ll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent.”
Trump will become the first convicted felon to be sworn in as president when he is inaugurated later this month.
