Trump's sentencing ends with no punishment, as judge wishes him 'Godspeed' in his second term in office
Brendan McDermid via AP, Pool
- Trump's Friday morning sentencing was over in a breezy 30 minutes.
- As expected, he received zero punishment and a scolding by prosecutors and the judge.
- Trump addressed the court virtually for under 10 minutes, criticizing the "witch hunt" against him.
After months of delay, Donald Trump's criminal case is finally closed.
For a breezily-paced half hour, the president-elect listened and watched via video from Mar-a-Lago as a Manhattan prosecutor decried his "dangerous rhetoric" and his defense lawyer promised to appeal the case.
Trump — slumped over a table alongside defense attorney Todd Blanche and visible in the courtroom on overhead screens — then delivered a brief, 7-minute statement of protest against the "witch hunt" against him, and his judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, handed a sentence of zero punishment as expected.
The less-than-a-wrist-slap came with a brief statement of chastisement. Merchan, reading from paperwork before him at the bench, noted that no ordinary citizen would have received the legal breaks enjoyed by Trump.
"A this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts," Merchan then said, referring to Trump's felony conviction and his sentence of no jail, no, probation, no fines, and no community service.
"Sir," the judge then said in conclusion, "I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term of office."
At the start of the Friday sentencing hearing, Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass condemned the former and future president, saying he "engaged in a coordinated campaign to undermine" the legitimacy of the trial that Trump faced seven months ago.
"The defendant has encouraged disdain to undermine the rule of law, and he has done this for his own ends," Steinglass told the court as Trump tuned in to the proceeding via a courtroom livestream.
Steinglass continued, "This defendant has caused enduring damage to the public perception of the criminal justice system and has put officers of the court in harm's way."
The assistant district attorney noted that the court had found Trump in contempt for 10 different violations for extra-judicial speech.
Friday's sentencing brings a delayed capstone to the criminal case just 10 days before Trump is scheduled to be sworn-in again as the president of the United States.
Trump appeared by video from his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, sitting alongside his defense lawyer Todd Blanche with an array of gold-fringed American flags draped behind them. Emil Bove, another one of his attorneys, was the only person sitting in-person at the defense table in Merchan's lower Manhattan courtroom.
"It was a political witch hunt," Trump said when given the opportunity to speak. "It was done to damage my reputation ahead of the election. and that didn't work."
This story is breaking news and will be updated.
Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/DOQbUuE
Reviewed by mimisabreena
on
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment