Trump To Be Sentenced For Hush Money Conviction

Although Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records — charges that carry the possibility of prison time — the judge has signaled that he will not face incarceration. Instead, a more lenient sentence is expected, likely an unconditional discharge, a rare outcome in such cases.

The sentencing will take place in a Manhattan courtroom, the same venue where the trial unfolded amid legal drama and heated personal attacks from the former president.

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Trump was forced to watch as witnesses testified about how he had orchestrated a cover-up of payments to Daniels in an effort to prevent her from revealing their alleged affair during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump has consistently denied the affair and the payment.

Daniels’ testimony was graphic, providing intimate details of their encounter, while the judge intervened to halt further explicit revelations.

In a last-ditch attempt, Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend the criminal proceedings after a New York State appeals court rejected his request to delay the sentencing.

However, the high court ruled that the sentencing could proceed, with prosecutors arguing that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction over the case since Trump had not exhausted all his legal options in the state court system.

Trump’s legal team had argued that sentencing should be postponed while he appeals his conviction.

Additionally, they contended that the immunity typically granted to sitting presidents should extend to a president-elect. New York State Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer dismissed both arguments on Tuesday.

Legal experts believe Trump will likely receive the mildest criminal sanction available, a discharge without further sanctions, despite his conviction.

This outcome would uphold his guilty verdict, cementing his status as the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony.

While Trump faced the possibility of up to four years in prison, some experts, like Pace University law professor Bennett Gershman, argue that Trump’s actions suggest a defiant attitude toward the judicial process.

“He’s sticking his middle finger at the judge, the jury, the system of justice, and laughing,” Gershman said.

Trump’s lawyers had also attempted to have the case dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s decision last year, which provided broad immunity to former presidents for actions taken during their time in office.

Meanwhile, Trump was officially certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after the violent January 6 Capitol insurrection, which was fueled by his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.