Well, this is one for the history books. Donald Trump has managed to turn a 34-felony conviction into basically a legal participation trophy, just weeks before his presidential comeback.
Let’s rewind a bit. On May 30, 2024, Trump became the first former US president to be found guilty of criminal charges. A Manhattan jury convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
This payment, made in the final days of the 2016 campaign, was allegedly to keep Daniels quiet about a supposed 2006 encounter — which Trump still denies ever happened.
Cut to Friday: Justice Juan Merchan handed down an “unconditional discharge” to Trump, which is fancy legal speak for ‘you’re guilty, but we’re not gonna do anything about it’. Trump, appearing via video link, was surprisingly less than thrilled with the outcome.
“This has been a very terrible experience. I think it has been a tremendous set back for New York and the New York court system,” Trump grumbled and called the whole thing a “political witch hunt”, per The Guardian.
He went on to claim it was all a ploy to tank his election chances. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.
Justice Merchan acknowledged the uniqueness of the case and stated, “Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances”, per abc News.
Despite the gravity of 34 felony convictions, the judge opted for a sentence that wouldn’t impede Trump’s upcoming presidential term.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass didn’t mince words, criticising Trump’s post-verdict behaviour as undermining the justice system.
“The once and future President of the United States has engaged in a coordinated campaign to undermine [the legal system’s] legitimacy,” Steinglass said, per abc News.
Steinglass said that Trump’s behaviour during the case, including calls for retaliation against those involved in the case, and for the judge to be disbarred, “has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has put officers of the court in harm’s way”.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, is already talking about an appeal, insisting the case “should not have been brought”.
Trump also took to Truth Social to announce his appeal plans 20 minutes after the sentencing hearing ended. “Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice,” he wrote.
Trump now has 30 days to file a notice of appeal if he wants to challenge his criminal conviction in the New York state court system. However, the full appeals process could easily take months, or even years to get through.
So, what’s next? Well, come January 20th, Trump will become the first convicted felon to be sworn in as US President because apparently, that’s just where we’re at now.
Stay tuned people. This political rollercoaster is far from over.
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