Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States has had his fair share of difficulties. This included being part of a criminal case with the New York Court of Appeals.
That case involved him giving hush money to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels. It has been a very public case and he was found guilty in May 2024. That charge was for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to a payment to Daniels.
Daniels, for her part, claims that she had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump and was given $130,000 in hush money. They were trying to keep it quiet, supposedly to help boost his chances of being elected president in the 2016 election.
The crime that he was accused of and found guilty of has a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Previously, New York judge Juan Merchan indicated that they were going to give him an unconditional discharge.
According to the judge, the unconditional discharge would be the most ‘viable solution’ to what was happening.
Before the sentence took place, Donald Trump’s lawyers asked the Court of Appeals to put the sentencing on hold. They said that going forward would cause ‘grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency.’
Recently, the judge described the case as ‘truly extraordinary.’ He then went ahead with the unconditional discharge as was expected. This is a sentence that is imposed ‘without imprisonment, fine, or probation supervision.’
Typically, minor thefts or other small offenses are given this type of sentencing.
Trump’s lawyer did say that sentencing Trump could impinge on his transition into the Oval Office. That transition is set to take place on January 20.
Lawyers for the Manhattan District Attorney word not so in agreement. They pointed out that President-elect Donald Trump would not have the same access to immunity as President Donald Trump.
The prosecution wrote: “The President-elect is, by definition, not yet the President. The President-elect therefore does not perform any Article II functions under the Constitution, and there are no Article II functions that would be burdened by ordinary criminal process involving the President-elect.
“And notwithstanding defendant’s past and upcoming service as President, his history, character, and condition – and especially his open disregard for the justice system – do not support dismissal.”
