U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to “unconditional discharge” in his New York criminal hush money case on Friday, just 10 days before his inauguration for a second term in the White House. A jury had previously found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump attended the hearing remotely, where he denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the case was a “terrible experience” and a “political witch hunt” brought to damage his reputation and ensure his loss in the election. Prosecutors had recommended an unconditional release, citing the need to be respectful of the office of the presidency.
However, Judge Juan Merchan imposed the sentence of unconditional discharge, stating that it was the only lawful sentence he could deliver without encroaching on the office of the presidency. Merchan noted that the protection of the presidency was a factor that “overrides all others” and that Trump, as a criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections.
The judge’s actions will formally make Trump the first criminal convict ever to occupy the Oval Office. The sentence comes a day after Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, attended the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter in Washington.
The U.S. Supreme Court had lifted the final legal barrier to Trump’s sentencing on Thursday night, refusing his request to block proceedings in the case. Trump’s lawyers had argued that he is immune from criminal prosecution, but courts have repeatedly rejected that claim.