Trump sentencing live updates: President-elect lashes out after judge orders unconditional discharge
President-elect appears virtually in Manhattan Criminal Court but has already vowed to file a further appeal against a prosecution he has branded an act of ‘lawfare’ by his political enemies
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump was sentenced to “unconditional discharge” by Judge Juan Merchan at Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday — just 10 days before his second inauguration to the presidency — after being found guilty on all counts at his hush money trial last year.
The Supreme Court declined to stop the sentencing, its justices ruling 5-4 in favor of allowing Judge Merchan to proceed.
The president-elect appeared virtually for the hearing and reiterated his objections to the case, repeating his claim that he was “very, very unfairly treated.”
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to hide payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to ensure her silence ahead of Election Day about an extramarital sexual encounter she alleges they had a decade earlier.
Trump insisted he would be filing a fresh appeal. He will be the first convicted felon to hold the office of the presidency.
Yesterday, Trump attended the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter in Washington, D.C., sitting alongside fellow commanders-in-chief Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Bill Clinton.
He has otherwise been promoting his dreams of acquiring Canada and Greenland and attacking California Governor Gavin Newsom over the Los Angeles wildfires.
Will Trump be jailed for hush money conviction?
Don Jr’s Greenland MAGA ‘supporters’ included unhoused people who were offered free lunch, Danish press reports
Civil rights groups warn Laken Riley bill could open the door to Trump’s mass deportations
Elon Musk hosts German far-right leader on X in latest bid to sway European politics
ANALYSIS: Trump’s hush money sentence ensures a convicted felon is going to the White House
Alex Woodward has been following the Trump hush money case for The Independent since the beginning. Here he takes a look at what the verdict means:
Trump’s hush money sentence ensures a convicted felon is going to the White House
Anyone not named Donald Trump would have likely gone to jail, but he can’t throw out a unanimous decision from a jury of his New York neighbors, Alex Woodward writes from Manhattan criminal court
In other sentencing news... prosecutors seek 15 years for Sen. Bob Menendez
Prosecutors say former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez should be imprisoned for 15 years, after the Democrat from New Jersey became the first to be convicted of abusing a Senate committee leadership position and the first public official to be convicted of serving as a foreign agent.
In papers filed late Thursday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors called for the lengthy prison term for the 71-year-old Menendez when he is sentenced on Jan. 29.
Menendez was convicted in July of 16 corruption charges brought after an FBI raid on his residence in 2022 turned up $150,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash, much of which prosecutors alleged was the result of bribes paid by three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator to use his power to protect their interests and make them money.
When he was charged in fall 2023, Menendez was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was forced out of that position in 2023 and gave up his Senate seat in August.
In presentence arguments last week, defense lawyers called for Judge Sidney H. Stein to be lenient with Menendez, saying his conviction had “rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit.”
“Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence,” the lawyers said.
Meanwhile, Giuliani is in court in Washington, D.C. for another contempt hearing
Here’s what you need to know:
Judge will weigh holding Giuliani in contempt of court after jury's $148 million defamation award
A federal judge is set to hear arguments on whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election workers after they secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him
Trump sentencing: What is a sentence of unconditional discharge?
Here’s what a sentence of unconditional discharge means per New York State penal law:
1. Criteria. The court may impose a sentence of unconditional discharge in any case where it is authorized to impose a sentence of conditional discharge under section 65.05 if the court is of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant's release.
When a sentence of unconditional discharge is imposed for a felony, the court shall set forth in the record the reasons for its action.
2. Sentence. When the court imposes a sentence of unconditional discharge, the defendant shall be released with respect to the conviction for which the sentence is imposed without imprisonment, fine or probation supervision. A sentence of unconditional discharge is for all purposes a final judgment of conviction.
The sentence confirms the conviction and status as a criminal felon, but no punishment is given. The judge must give a reason for the sentence; in this case, the felon is about to assume the office of the presidency and any punishment would impede the carrying out of that role.
Trump claims ‘Radical Democrats’ lost case because of sentencing he becomes first felon president
Donald Trump claims in a Truth Social rant that the “Radical Democrats” lost the case that will make him the first felon president when he takes office on January 20 as he was only sentenced to unconditional discharge.
The president-elect wrongly takes this to mean that there was no case after all. However, Judge Juan Merchan specifically explained that the unconditional discharge sentence protects the office of the presidency, not the individual: “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.”
Merchan said of the protections of the presidency: "They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way. One power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict."
“Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections,” he added.
“This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction without encroachment on the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge.”
Here’s what Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after leaving court, calling the sentencing “a despicable charade” and vowing to appeal “this Hoax”:
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!
Trump defiant he did nothing wrong as judge lets off felon president-elect with slap on wrist
President-elect Donald Trump ranted about his innocence and having a ‘very terrible experience’ during his hush-money trial moments before a judge sentenced him to no jail time or fines in the historic case.
New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge on Friday after a jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May. This sentence means Trump will not face any jail time or fines.
Alex Woodward and Katie Hawkinson report.
Trump defiant he did nothing wrong as judge let’s him off with slap on wrist
Trump will not face any jail time or fines for his 34 felony convictions
In pictures: Inside the courtroom for historic sentencing of President-elect Trump
Full story: Trump avoids jail in hush money sentence but is set to be first felon president
Alex Woodward reports from Manhattan’s Criminal Court:
Donald Trump will return to the White House as the first-ever criminally convicted president after his sentencing in a Manhattan courtroom, where the judge presiding over his criminal hush money trial declined to send him to jail but preserved the jury’s historic verdict against the president-elect.
New York Justice Juan Merchan told the former president on January 10 that “the only lawful sentence” remaining for his crimes is that of an unconditional discharge.
“I wish you godspeed as you serve a second term in office,” he said before leaving the court.
Continue reading...
Trump avoids jail in hush money sentence but is set to be first felon president
New York Justice Juan Merchan said “the only lawful sentence” remaining for Trump’s crimes is that of an unconditional discharge
Trump sentenced to 'unconditional discharge’
“Never before has this court been presented with such a set of unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” says Judge Juan Merchan solemnly from the bench.
He notes that sentencing, no matter what the crime is always very difficult.
Yet the trial “was a bit of a paradox” that resembled the same 30 or so other cases that took place in the courthouse at the same time, once the doors were closed.
Merchan notes that while the trial was ordinary, the sentencing is not, given the office Trump held and will soon occupy again.
Despite the protections surrounding the presidency, Trump “does not have the power to overturn a jury’s verdict,” Merchan says.
The only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment and conviction … is an unconditional discharge, he continues.
Therefore, at this time I impose this sentence to cover all 34 counts.
“I wish you godspeed as you serve a second term in office,” he concludes.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments