In a significant legal development, former President and President-elect Donald Trump is set to face sentencing on January 10 for his conviction in the hush money case. The sentencing date comes just days before Trump is scheduled to take office again on January 20, marking an unprecedented situation in U.S. political history.
Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial earlier this year, stated that Trump is likely to receive a conditional discharge. In this arrangement, the charges would be effectively dismissed if Trump avoids any further legal trouble. Merchan’s decision suggests that the former president will not serve jail time for the conviction.
Former President Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts related to falsifying business records. The charges involve a hush money payment he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the final weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign. The payment allegedly was made to keep Daniels from publicly disclosing her claims of an affair with Trump, which he has repeatedly denied.
After winning the November 5 election, Judge Merchan temporarily stayed the case to enable both the defense and the prosecution to weigh on whether the case would have an impact on Trump’s yet-to-be-launched presidency.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the case should be dismissed, arguing that the continuation of the case will cause constitutional conflicts and interfere with his ability to function as a president. The prosecutors, however, acknowledged that the circumstances are unique but felt that the conviction should stand.
Prosecutors presented several options: suspending the case until Trump’s term ends or ensuring that no jail time would be served. Another suggestion was to close the case with a formal recording of both the conviction and Trump’s pending appeal, a method sometimes used when defendants pass away during ongoing appeals.
As Trump gets ready to head back to the White House, this legal fight remains a telling turn in his political career. The sentencing has been scheduled only days before he is to be inaugurated and thus adds one more chapter to his contentious and historic career.
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