Trump avoids jail time in historic sentencing
by Gabs · MyNewsGh.comPresident-elect Donald Trump has been sentenced to an unconditional discharge Friday in his hush-money case, just 10 days before his inauguration for a second term.
The decision spares Trump from prison, fines, or probation but solidifies his status as a convicted felon—a label that will undoubtedly add to the complexities of his presidency.
During the brief virtual hearing, New York prosecutors accused Trump of orchestrating a “direct attack on the rule of law” by undermining the judicial process through relentless attacks on the judge and others connected to the case.
Trump’s defence team, fiercely critical of the ruling, called it a “sad day for this country” and vowed to appeal the decision.
Judge Juan Merchan, who was a focal point of Trump’s criticisms during the trial, defended the unconditional discharge as “the only lawful sentence.”
He explained that the move was necessary to safeguard the “office of the president,” not the individual occupying it.
“Protections afforded to the office of the president apply to the institution itself,” Merchan stated pointedly. “Not to the occupant of the office.”
The sentencing came just 10 days before Trump is set to be sworn in as the country’s 47th president.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Judge Juan Merchan said before he handed down his sentence. “This has been a truly extraordinary case.”
He cited the immunity and legal protections Trump will soon have as the reasons for sentencing him with an unconditional discharge, which he called “the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment of conviction without encroaching upon the highest office in the land.”
“Donald Trump, the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections,” Merchan said.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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