Democrat-aligned New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced President-elect Donald J. Trump on Friday for 34 counts of business record fraud. The court is imposing an ‘unconditional discharge,’ meaning that Trump will serve no prison time. However, the President-elect will now officially be a convicted felon just before he is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States—which appears to be the main aim of Merchan and his Democratic Party allies.
Late yesterday, the United States Supreme Court declined to intervene in the sentencing. In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that they would prefer to see the appeals process play out before involving themselves in the case. They also cited Merchan’s public pledge to impose only an ‘unconditional discharge’ as the sentence and not assign Trump any prison time.
Last year, a New York City jury found Trump guilty of dozens of counts of business record fraud, which had been elevated to felonies through a dubious legal theory pushed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The trial, which began on April 22, saw 17 days of witness testimony and arguments. Bragg, who brought the 34 felony charges against Trump, pinned much of his case on the testimony of serial perjurer and disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen.
The New York prosecution was part of a larger lawfare campaign brought against Trump by the Biden government and the Democratic Party. In addition to the Bragg prosecution, Trump also faced two federal trials and another state case in Georgia. However, only Bragg’s New York prosecution—arguably the weakest of the four cases—successfully resulted in a conviction and sentencing.
Merchan has repeatedly been criticized for his partisan alignment with the Democratic Party. The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, has deep ties to Democratic Party candidates and political groups, including those involved in partisan lawfare.
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