(CNN) — Donald Trump was sentenced without penalty in the New York hush money case Friday after a symbolic – and historic and unprecedented – hearing following the first felony conviction of a former and soon-to-be sitting president.
Judge Juan Merchan spoke to Trump for several minutes, telling the president-elect that it was the office of the presidency – and not the occupant – that was afforded extraordinary legal protections requiring him to impose a sentence of unconditional discharge without any punishment.
Trump chose to speak before Merchan imposed his sentence, showing zero contrition and launching into the same attacks against the “political witch hunt” that he’s been claiming since he was first indicted more than 20 months ago.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. While he has vowed to keep fighting the conviction through the appeals courts, Friday’s sentencing cements the fact that Trump will be the first convicted felon to become president 10 days from now.
Here’s what to know from the hearing:
An unprecedented sentencing
Merchan already signaled he would not sentence Trump to any punishment, let alone jail time. That’s something the US Supreme Court noted when it allowed the hearing to go forward in a 5-4 ruling Thursday night, over Trump’s objections.
But that didn’t make Friday’s sentencing any less significant or embarrassing for Trump, who was allowed to appear virtually from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
During Friday’s sentencing, Trump’s tone was perhaps more subdued while speaking over a virtual connection, but he nevertheless railed for several minutes against everyone involved in the case – the prosecutors, the judge, Michael Cohen and more – claiming he has been treated unfairly.
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump said at one point.
Trump concluded his speech by noting that the voters had put him back in office, even ticking off the fact that he won all seven swing states and the popular vote.
The voters had “been watching your trial so they understood it,” the president-elect said, implying that the case helped return him to the White House.
Judge focuses on protections of ‘office of the presidency’
Merchan did not criticize Trump’s conduct as he sentenced him, instead focusing on the judge’s difficult task of imposing a sentence and the legal reasons why he was not imposing any punishment in the case.
Merchan noted that the circumstances surrounding this case were extraordinary – but said that once the courtroom doors closed, it proceeded like any other trial in the New York court system.
And Merchan made clear that it was the office of the presidency – and not Trump himself – that tied his hands on a sentence in the hush money case.
“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,” the judge said.
Last year’s seven-week trial was held without any audio or video recordings allowed, but Merchan agreed to allow an audio recording of Friday’s hearing to be released, allowing the public to hear the proceedings – and Merchan’s measured tone as he delivered his sentence – for the first time.
“The considerable – indeed, extraordinary – legal protections afforded by the office of the chief executive is a factor that overrides all others,” Merchan said.
Those protections, the judge said, are “a legal mandate, which, pursuant to the rule of law, this court must respect and follow.”
Prosecutors concurred with Merchan’s decision to sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, but assistant district attorney Josh Steinglass accused Trump of harming the rule of law with his conduct before and after the May jury verdict.
Steinglass noted that the probation officer who interviewed Trump for a probation report ahead of the sentencing wrote that Trump “sees himself as above the law.”
“Far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct,” Steinglass added, Trump “encouraged others to reject the jury verdict.”
“This defendant has caused enduring damage to the public perception of the criminal justice system,” Steinglass said.
Trump enters office as a felon
The unconditional discharge sentence cements the president-elect’s status as a convicted felon, though Trump now walks freely away from the case without any threat of punishment, fines or probationary supervision.
The sentence essentially serves as a final judgment in the case procedurally, allowing Trump and his attorneys to move forward with his appeals.
They argue that last summer’s Supreme Court ruling granting widespread presidential immunity means the case should be thrown out. Although the hush money payments at issue were in 2016, before Trump was president, some of the evidence used against him stemmed from his time in office, particularly discussions with witness Hope Hicks.
Steinglass emphasized that “the jury’s verdict in this case was unanimous and decisive and it must be respected.”
Merchan noted the legal protections of the presidency – but said there’s a big caveat.
“One power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict,” Merchan said.
‘What ifs’ linger over hearing
How the American public would have reacted or voted if Trump had been sentenced will always be a speculative question.
Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but that date was pushed back multiple times after the Supreme Court’s decision granting sweeping presidential immunity.
Ultimately, the sentencing was delayed until after the election, which allowed Trump’s victory to wipe away any real threat of legal punishment, both in the hush money case and his federal indictments.
Merchan was not required to impose any prison time – and legal experts debated whether the low-level felonies Trump was convicted of would have warranted it – but the felonies came with a maximum four-year prison term, so the judge would have had that option. He also could have imposed lesser penalties like home confinement or community service.
It may ultimately be lost to history to speculate about what Merchan would have done had Trump been sentenced in July – or if Friday’s hearing came after Trump was a defeated presidential candidate. Merchan didn’t tip his hand Friday when he spoke to Trump and imposed his sentence.
Trump has been sentenced, but there will be appeals
Though the president-elect won’t be penalized in the hush money case, he’s made it clear he wants the conviction tossed.
“We’re going to appeal anyway, just psychologically, because frankly, it’s a disgrace. It’s a judge that shouldn’t have been on the case,” Trump said from Mar-a-Lago on Thursday night.
While he’s in office, Trump’s attorneys are expected to exhaust every legal avenue to continue fighting the conviction – a process that will likely take years. Now that Merchan has entered a final judgment at sentencing Trump’s legal team can file a substantive appeal with the state appellate court.
Trump’s top defense attorneys, however, are set to enter his administration. Todd Blanche, who was sitting beside Trump on Friday, has been tapped as deputy attorney general. And Emil Bove, who appeared in the Manhattan courtroom on Trump’s behalf, was picked to be the principle associate attorney general.
If the lower appeals court upholds the jury’s verdict, Trump then can ask the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, to consider his case. If his appeals fail in New York, he can take his case up to the US Supreme Court – a move he’s expected to pursue if all other efforts aren’t successful.
Merchan concluded his role in Trump’s trial Friday with a nod to Trump’s future responsibilities, 10 days away: “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”
The-CNN-Wire
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