Judge Juan Merchan spent seven minutes during Friday’s sentencing hearing bemoaning that President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory prevented him from imposing a sentence normally given to an “ordinary citizen.”
Merchan sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge, which grants the president-elect with no fines, jail or probation time while formalizing his status as a convicted felon. During the hearing, Merchan stated that the alleged “extraordinary” legal protections handed to the president of the United States required him to hand down a minor sentence that Trump would allegedly not have received without being reelected.
“While one can argue that the trial itself was in many respects somewhat ordinary, the same cannot be said about the circumstances surrounding this sentencing and that is because of the office [Trump] once occupied, and which you will soon occupy again,” Merchan told the president-elect. “To be sure, it is the legal protections afforded to the office of the president of the United States that are extraordinary, not the occupant of the office. The legal protections, especially within the context of a criminal prosecution, afforded to the office of the president have been laid out by our founders, the Constitution and most recently interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in the matter of Trump versus the United States, which was decided on July 1, 2024.”
“As with every other defendant in your position, it is my obligation to consider any and all aggravating and mitigating factors to inform my decision … The considerable, indeed, extraordinary legal protections afforded by the office of the chief executive, is a factor that overrides all others,” the judge continued.
Merchan assured that the legal protections provided to the President of the United States are not a “mitigating factor” and thus do not “reduce the seriousness” of a crime committed. He further noted that Trump’s upcoming entry into the Oval Office does not grant him a dismissal of a jury verdict, and claimed that Trump has received “far-reaching protections” that would never be granted to an “ordinary” defendant.
“It is clear from legal precedent … that Donald Trump, the ordinary citizen [and] Donald Trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections,” Merchan said. “I’m referring to protections that extended well beyond those afforded the average defendant who winds their way through the criminal justice system each day. No, ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections. It is the office of the president that bestows those far-reaching protections to the office holder.”
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump of 34 felony counts in May for falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 non-disclosure agreement to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged ahead of the 2016 election that the two had an affair in 2006. The judge concluded that an unconditional discharge would uphold the jury’s verdict without “encroaching” on the executive branch.
Trump, who spoke during the hearing, told the courtroom that he was “totally innocent” and treated “very unfairly” throughout the legal case brought forth by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He argued that the payment to Daniels was labeled as a “legal expense” by accountants, and cited legal experts who contended that the case should never have been brought.
The president-elect’s legal team attempted to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity after the Supreme Court ruled that a president holds such protections in a July 1 decision. The high court declined to have the sentencing delayed in a 5-4 decision Thursday night.
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