President-elect Donald Trump was officially sentenced to an unconditional discharge at his sentencing hearing on Friday, which essentially means this whole stinking thing was a colossal waste of his time, our time, and everybody’s time. It seems that the main goal for Judge Juan Merchan, the man overseeing this fiasco, was to ensure that Trump would forever be stuck with the label, convicted felon. The original charges facing the president-elect were for allegedly falsifying business records related to a supposed “hush money” payment and were filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump attended the sentencing virtually after spending a tremendous amount of time and energy fighting to block the process, taking matters to the highest court in the U.S., the Supreme Court. Seated beside the president-elect during the proceedings was his defense lawyer, Todd Blanche.
Here’s more on this absurdity via Fox News:
Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, and instead sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, meaning there is no punishment imposed: no jail time, fines or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction.
“After careful analysis, this court determined only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan went on to say during the sentencing on Friday. “At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts.”
The judge then told Trump, “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”
All of this was for nothing. The whole case was a sham that politicized to take out Trump and prevent him from running the 2024 election. People saw through the lawfare though and the whole matter backfired on the left. Instead of hurting his chances of victory, the case enhanced them, enabling Trump to win the Electoral College, all seven swing states, and the popular vote.
The fact there was no punishment for the crime is proof that this thing never had any legs to stand on to begin with. The jury found Trump guilty because they were all people pulled from an area openly hostile to the incoming commander-in-chief.
“This is a great embarrassment to the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that the people saw the trial firsthand, and voted “decisively” to elect him as president. Trump said the Justice Department was “very involved” and stressed that a case like this against a former president, candidate and now president-elect has “never happened in our country before.”
“And I would just like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly. And I thank you very much,” Trump remarked during the hearing on Friday.
When Merchan announced the date for the sentencing he said at the time that he probably wasn’t going to impose jail time on the incoming president. So what’s the purpose of the sentencing? He also revealed that he spoke to Trump prior to the sentencing to tell him what his sentence would be, which he called an “unusual step.”
“The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make,” Merchan remarked, pointing out the court “must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.”
Merchan reflected on the case, saying that “never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances.” The judge said it was an “extraordinary case” with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself “was not any more unique or extraordinary” than any other case.
Trump is scheduled to be sworn-in on Jan. 20.