President-Elect Donald Trump has responded after his sentencing in New York on Friday morning in the “hush money” case.
Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an “unconditional discharge,” which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office did not oppose.
Under New York state law, it’s a sentence imposed “without imprisonment, fine, or probation supervision.”
According to the law, such a sentence can be appropriate when the judge “is of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant’s release.”
Trump wasted little time responding to the sentencing and issued a firey response on his Truth Social website.
“The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE,” Trump began in his post.
“That result alone proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED. The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference. Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump added.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Merchan issued words of encouragement to Trump.
“Sir, I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office,” Merchan said in his final statement to Trump.
BREAKING: After sentencing Donald Trump virtually, Judge Juan Merchan concluded with, “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you prepare to assume your second term in office.”
Before that, he said in part, “The protections afforded the office of the president are not a mitigating factor.… pic.twitter.com/TSj6eAteuN
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 10, 2025
Trump also spoke in court and did not pull any punches.
“This has been a very terrible experience and a setback for the New York court system,” Trump said, appearing virtually from Mar-a-Lago.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche says it’s a “sad day” for the US.
“It’s a very sad day. It’s a sad day for President Trump, for his family and friends, but also in counsel’s view, a sad day for this country. A lot of what the government just said presupposes that this case is legally appropriate,” Blanche said.
Blanche noted that Trump’s lawyers intend to appeal the verdict.
“A majority of the American people also agree that this case should not have been brought,” Blanche added.
“I very, very much disagree with much of what the government just said about this case, about the legitimacy of what happened in this courtroom during the trial, and about President Trump’s conduct fighting this case,” Blanche declared.
“It’s been a political witch hunt; it was done to damage my reputation,” Trump said.
Trump also discussed his 2024 election victory, saying he won the popular vote by “millions and millions of votes” and noting that he won all seven swing states.
“They’ve been watching your trial, so they understood it,” Trump said of the voters.
“The fact is, I’m totally innocent. I did nothing wrong,” Trump declared in court.
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