Trump in Manhattan criminal court in May.Michael M. Santiago/PA Wire/Zuma
Donald Trump’s criminal case ended with a sputter on Friday morning as a New York City judge sentenced him to no jail time and discharged his case. While the incoming president received no actual punishment for his 34 convictions for concealing hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, the sentencing did formalize his status as a felon—a first for any American president. Trump did not have to be present in court for the sentencing, but appeared by video from Mar-a-Lago, sitting next to his attorney.
“This defendant… has placed officers of the court in harm’s way.”
During the brief hearing, prosecutors said they agreed with the plan to not give Trump any jail time, but insisted he must be categorized as a felon. Joshua Steinglass of the Manhattan district attorney’s office told Judge Juan Merchan that a probation report produced for the sentencing described Trump as seeing himself above the law and refusing to take responsibility for his actions.
Steinglass argued that Trump, who appeared to either sleep or pretended to sleep for much of the trial, and who used his social media to direct vitriol at prosecutors, witnesses, and Merchan and his family, should not be allowed to walk away from his convictions without any formal recognition of his wrongdoing,
“This defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm’s way,” Steinglass said.
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump complained in rambling remarks to Merchan, adding that he thought “it’s been a tremendous setback,” for the state of New York. At one point he complained about his former fixer, Michael Cohen, who testified against him in the case, saying that Cohen talks like George Washington, “But he’s not George Washington.“
Aside from other brief comments once again denying he had done anything and pointing to electoral results in swing states as a way of claiming vindication in the case, Trump reportedly spent most of Friday’s hearing looking either distracted by something in front of him—possibly a phone—or grimacing and shaking his head at negative descriptions of his behavior.
Trump and his legal team attempted to have the case and sentencing delayed or thrown out, taking appeals all the way to the Supreme Court, citing the high court’s July decision extending presiidents unprecedented immunity from criminal prosecution. On Thursday, the Supreme Court, denied his efforts clearing the way f0r Friday’s sentencing.
Speaking from the bench, Merchan reminded Trump that the presidential immunity that he tried—and failed—to invoke to avoid the convictions, applied to the office of the presidency, not the individual who has occupied it. As Merchan put it, it did not protect “Donald Trump the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump the criminal defendant.”
The sentence of an unconditional discharge means that the case is over, Trump is not punished, and unlike a conditional discharge, does not have to meet any conditions—like keeping a job, passing drug tests or making restitution—to avoid further consequences.
During the trial, Trump was fined $9,000 for contempt.