Judge in Trump's hush money case signals no jail time for president-elect
Yahoo! News is calling it an "extraordinary turn."
Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over Donald Trump's hush money trial, has scheduled the president-elect's sentencing for Jan. 10.
Merchan has indicated that Donald Trump will NOT face jail time despite being convicted of felonies.
While Trump will surely be happy to not be in jail, he's currently on course to be the first American president to ever take office after being convicted of felony crimes.
Trump and his team wanted the verdict dismissed entirely, but Merchan wasn't willing to throw the whole case out.
Instead, Merchan said that he wanted to bring "finality to this matter" before Donald Trump took office.
Merchan wanted Trump to be able to govern without the burdens of this case and sentencing hanging over his head.
However, Merchan had to weigh Trump's peace of mind against other interests, such as the public's expectation "that all are equal and no one is above the law."
"This court is simply not persuaded that the first factor outweighs the others at this stage of the proceeding," Merchan wrote in an 18-page decision.
Despite the promise of no jail time, Trump was still furious about Merchan's decision.
According to Yahoo!:
Trump lashed out at Merchan on his Truth Social platform Friday, writing that it “would be the end of the Presidency as we know it” if the judge’s ruling is allowed to stand.
He repeated his claims that the case was an “illegitimate political attack” and “nothing but a Rigged Charade” perpetuated by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat. He didn’t elaborate on potential next legal moves.
Bragg’s office declined to comment on Merchan’s ruling.
In May 2024, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records as a result of an alleged scheme to hide a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
If you are interested in learning more about this story, please click on the original source here.
