January 10, (THEWILL) – With just ten days to his inauguration on January 20, US President-elect, Donald Trump, has been handed a no-penalty sentence of an “unconditional discharge” for his conviction in the hush money case.
A Manhattan jury had in May last year convicted Trump of 34 felony counts involving hush money paid to a porn star. He was guilty of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
The case stemmed from a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she has said she had a decade earlier with Trump, who denies it.
Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, which he described as a politically motivated attempt to interfere with his presidential campaign.
A New York Judge, Juan Merchan, had postponed the sentencing, scheduled earlier for November 26, 2024, following an appeal motion filed by Trump’s attorneys against the conviction.
Efforts to overturn the decision had failed even as he again lost a Supreme Court appeal on Thursday, to delay his sentencing.
Rejecting a request to stop his sentencing this Friday, the court in a split decision of 5-4, on Thursday, held that Trump could address his issues with the verdict through appeals, and that “the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing.”
Addressing the court via video before the sentencing on Friday, Trump, who said the case had been a “very terrible experience” for him, claimed it was handled inappropriately and by someone connected with his political opponents.
“It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election. This has been a political witch hunt. I am totally innocent. I did nothing wrong. I was treated very unfairly and I thank you very much”, he said.
It was up to me to “decide what is a just conclusion with a verdict of guilty. Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances. This has been a truly extraordinary case”, Judge Juan M Merchan said, adding that the “trial was a bit of a paradox” because “once the doors closed it was not unique as he declared a verdict of an “unconditional discharge”, closing the case with no punishment.
Reacting to the sentence, Trump in a post on his Truth Social called his unconditional discharge sentence a “hoax”.
“The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference,” Trump said, who is is the first US president – former or sitting – to face a criminal trial, let alone a guilty verdict and subsequent sentencing.
“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.
Meanwhile, United States aviation giant, Boeing, has pledged $1 million to the inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump.
“We are pleased to continue Boeing’s bipartisan tradition of supporting US Presidential Inaugural Committees”, Boeing stated, noting that similar contributions had been made to the last three presidential inaugurations.
Also, technology powerhouse, Google has joined other tech giants such as Meta and Amazon in supporting the inauguration.
“Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage”, said Karan Bhatia, Google’s global head of government affairs and public policy.
Several other major corporations have followed suit. Automotive firms, Ford, General Motors, and Toyota, each contributed $1 million, while energy giant, Chevron, confirmed a donation but declined to disclose the amount.
“Chevron has a long tradition of celebrating democracy by supporting the inaugural committees of both parties. We are proud to be doing so again this year”, said Bill Turene, Chevron’s manager of global media relations.
Felix Ifijeh is a journalist with years of professional reporting experience. Known for his keen news sense, compelling storytelling and commitment to accurate, impactful reporting, he has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
