Donald Trump’s hush money case is nearing its conclusion and not even the President re-elect himself can stop it. Judge Juan M. Merchan who is presiding over the case has denied Trump’s legal council’s request to push the date of sentencing behind.
The impending verdict in question is regarding the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Trump’s legal council has bid to postpone the sentencing while using Presidential immunity as leverage. Meanwhile, Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan has his sights set on reaching the conclusion of this case before Trump officially starts his term in office.
BREAKING: Judge Merchan orders President-Elect Donald Trump to be sentenced on January 10th in New York hush money case pic.twitter.com/YA5RFJFdLD
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) January 3, 2025
Donald Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States this month. The inauguration ceremony is set to take place in Washington, D.C. on 20th January.
Merchan has shown Trump leniency by permitting him to attend the sentencing through video rather than attending in person. Several appeals filed by Trump’s attorneys have been rejected at this point. Manhattan district attorney’s office has given the presiding judge the green flag to go ahead with the verdict.
“Given the strong public interest in prompt prosecution and the finality of criminal proceedings,” the Manhattan district attorney’s office reasoned. The original date for sentencing was set for July 2023, which was then postponed at Trump’s request.
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The Presidential re-elect’s attorneys even argued about the case being politically motivated at a point that led to further delays. “He should not now be heard to complain of harm from delays he caused,” the Prosecutor has now countered.
Steven Cheung who is Trump’s spokesperson defended him by labelling the impending verdict as “unlawful sentencing” while calling it a “Witch Hunt.” He also pointed out Trump’s right to Presidential Immunity. Trump’s legal team defended him noting that the case should be thrown out on the basis of Presidential immunity.
The New York judge who presided over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has denied the president-elect’s bid to vacate his guilty verdict on presidential immunity grounds. https://t.co/x2xNdvna6y
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 17, 2024
Michael Cohen, who was Trump’s then personal lawyer, has testified against him in the case. Cohen admitted to arranging the hush money and supervising the transfer.
The Stormy Daniels case, that Trump was allegedly involved in, is soon to reach its verdict. The case involves adult film actress Stephanie Clifford also known as Stormy Daniels. The actress initially made claims about having a sexual encounter with Trump in 2011.
In a 2011 interview, Daniels alleged that the president-re-elect had an affair with her in 2006. Trump allegedly paid Stormy hush money in 2018 when the interview went viral again. The latter admitted receiving $130,000 from Trump to never speak about the affair again.
Judge Juan M. Merchan has made the nature of the sentencing clear by saying he has decided to bring “finality to this matter.” The judge also signalled towards an unconditional discharge which would mean Trump would be let off without jail time, a fine or even probation. Merchan said that an unconditional discharge “appears to be the most viable solution.”
The judge in President-elect Donald Trump’s New York criminal hush money case indicated Friday that he intends to sentence Trump to an “unconditional discharge” out of respect for the presidential immunity doctrine. Full story here: https://t.co/j1TLsR2l5H pic.twitter.com/Kc1bDuAelQ
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 4, 2025
Trump’s sentencing initially was set for July 2023 and was postponed twice at the request of his lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove. After Trump’s Nov. 5 election win, Merchan delayed the sentencing yet again so that both the involved parties could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump has, however, denied the allegations regarding the case several times over the years.
