OAN Staff Sophia Flores
7:12 AM – Friday, January 10, 2025
Judge Juan Merchan has sentenced Donald Trump to an unconditional discharge, meaning the President-elect is not required to take any action, but the conviction will remain on his record.
The President-elect was sentenced on Friday after a New York jury convicted him in May on 34 felony counts of “falsifying business records” to conceal a payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has repeatedly maintained his innocence throughout the trial, characterizing the case as a “weaponization of our justice system.”
“The fact is I’m totally innocent. I did nothing wrong,” he said on Friday.
Trump chose to appear virtually for his sentencing from Mar-a-Lago rather than in-person. He joined the stream seated next to Todd Blanche, his attorney.
Trump spoke during the sentencing hearing, while discussing the case insisting that his accountants logged his legal expenses.
“Legal fees were put down as legal expenses by accountants; they weren’t put down by me. They didn’t call them construction, concrete work,” Trump said. “They called a legal expenses a legal expense and for this I got indicted. It’s incredible actually.”
He went on to call out his disgraced former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
“He was allowed to talk like he was George Washington, but he’s not George Washington,” the Republican stated.
This January 10th sentencing comes after Trump’s lawyers asked a state appeals court to reverse Judge Merchan’s decision to schedule the sentencing. After that failed, Trump’s legal team asked the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to pause the hearing. In a 5-4 vote, SCOTUS declined his request.
Trump’s sentencing was originally scheduled for July 11th but had been delayed three times.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
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