Donald Trump is set to be sentenced today in a historic hush money case
New York: Today is a big day for Donald Trump as he faces sentencing in his hush money case. This is a first for any U.S. president, whether past or present, to go through this kind of legal trouble.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced at 9:30 AM local time. The judge, Juan Merchan, has already shot down Trump’s attempts to dismiss the guilty verdict. Plus, the Supreme Court decided not to delay the sentencing either.
The court believes that moving forward with the sentencing won’t be a huge burden on Trump. They think he can deal with it while still having the chance to appeal the verdict later.
So, what’s he being sentenced for? Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. Prosecutors say he made false entries to cover up payments to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who paid $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
Trump denies having any affair with Daniels, but the prosecutors argued that he disguised these payments as legal expenses to hide his violation of New York election laws.
As for what his sentence might look like, Judge Merchan has indicated that there’s no reason to hold off on sentencing. He believes it’s important to wrap this up for everyone involved.
Each of the counts could lead to up to four years in prison, but the judge has hinted that actual jail time is unlikely. Instead, he’s leaning towards an “unconditional discharge,” meaning Trump would be convicted but wouldn’t face any penalties.
Even if he doesn’t go to prison, Trump could still face fines or other penalties. But the judge has to explain why he’s giving an unconditional discharge, which means Trump would be released without any jail time or probation.
Now, about the whole self-pardon thing—Trump can’t pardon himself in this case since it’s a state court matter. There’s some debate about federal cases, but that doesn’t apply here.
Being a convicted felon does come with some restrictions for Trump, but as a former president, many of those might not affect him much. He can’t serve on a jury or own a gun, and he might have trouble traveling to certain countries.
But when it comes to running for president again, the Constitution doesn’t say anything about convictions. It only requires that a candidate be at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen.
