On January 3, New York Judge Juan Merchan rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s request that his “hush money” convictions be vacated based on the US Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision in Trump v. United States. Merchan has scheduled a “sentencing” of Donald Trump for January 10, in which no incarceration will be imposed, a presumably symbolic pre-inaugural trial formality.
Donald Trump Is no Ordinary Felon
Sensationalist histrionics that Donald Trump is “a convicted felon” arise solely from the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 Presidential election advanced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Stitched tenuously together to avoid statutes of limitation, amplify the charges against Trump to felonies, and intrude into federal election jurisdiction, the 34 counts (arising from a single $130,000 payment) will now be disposed of via an “unconditional discharge.”
Many conservatives allege Alvin Bragg has waged political “lawfare” against candidate Donald Trump, enabled by Merchan, who refused to recuse himself from the proceedings. The convoluted criminal counts against Donald Trump were tarnished by the admission of “official acts” evidence of the President by Merchan at trial despite strenuous objections of counsel: The US Supreme Court later ruled US presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts. All bets for his incarceration vanished once Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. January 10 will thus likely be Merchan’s last word on the matter before him.
Trump spokesman and incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung called Merchan’s ruling “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence.” Re-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has previously condemned Merchan’s Kafkian hush money cases against Trump, stating: “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one. ….The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration….” On the eve of the Inauguration Ball, Donald Trump and Juan Merchan will have their last legal dance.
Merchan’s Departing Words
Merchan originally scheduled the former President’s sentencing hearing for July 11, then September 18, then November 26, and now January 10. The threat of jail time for the Donald has diminished with every rescheduling, as the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. US, and then an election victory, have made a prison cell for the next resident of the Oval Office impossible. Judge Merchan announced that there will be no possibility of prison time for the former and future POTUS, which Merchan described as “a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation.”
Without any possibility of incarceration, the toothless hearing will likely end in an “unconditional discharge” accompanied by a verbal condemnation of Donald Trump’s conduct. It is possible the Trump legal team could then appeal the entire case to remove any legacy stigma that Donald Trump is indeed a convicted felon as claimed by his detractors, but that legal exercise may be as meaningless as Merchan’s ceremonial sentencing process. Incoming President Trump has more pressing national security matters at hand than reversing a bogus prosecution.
Indeed, the aggressive legal tactics against Trump – not just in New York’s hush money trial, but in federal prosecutor Jack Smith’s claims of Trump’s role in the January 6 “insurrection” and mishandling of documents and Fani Willis’ charges of Georgia election interference – may have helped rather than hindered Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The venomous legal and character attacks against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also caused much voter eyebrow-raising as November 5 approached.
Whatever the final outcome of the symbolic sentencing of Donald J. Trump in New York next Friday, the controversial hush-money case against him will be over. Both the incoming president and the American people can leave this ordeal behind and get to work Making America Great Again. Merchan may get the last legal words, but Donald Trump has the last political laugh.
