Newly elected President Donald Trump was convicted will be released without restrictions on friday following his criminal conviction in the case of ‘hush money’ in New York.
Although he will not face any punishment under the unconditional discharge, Trump and his lawyer have vowed to appeal his conviction as he prepares to take office in 10 days as the 47th president of the United States. Speaking virtually from his residence in Florida, Trump continued to insist during the hearing that he is “completely innocent.”
“It’s been a political witch hunt,” Trump said on camera. “It was done to damage my reputation so that I would lose the election, and obviously that didn’t work.”
Prosecutors had also recommended an unconditional discharge sentence given Trump’s upcoming inauguration, but not before denouncing Trump’s conduct and the precedent it sets.
“Simply put, this defendant has caused lasting damage to the public’s perception of the criminal justice system and endangered officers of the court,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass.
Listen to Trump’s sentencing hearing
Although cameras in the courtroom were not allowed to capture video of the hearing, the court released the audio afterwards, which can be heard in the player above.
What was Trump convicted of?
The case arose from a $130,000 “hush money” payment Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen spoke with adult film star Stormy Daniels in the days before the 2016 election. Prosecutors alleged the payment was made to keep voters unaware of Daniels’ claim that she had sex with Trump years earlier, a claim Trump still denies.
Trump was charged with 34 counts of first-degree falsification of corporate records, a felony in New York, and a jury convicted him on all 34 charges.
What is an unconditional discharge?
An unconditional discharge, the sentence Merchan imposed on Trump, allows for release without any formal punishment or the possibility of imposing punishment at a later date.
That means no jail time, no volunteer community service and no fines for his conviction. The maximum penalty, which a first-time offender likely would not have received, was four years in prison and several thousand dollars in fines for each of the 34 charges.
“This court has determined that the only legal penalty that allows for a conviction without infringing on the highest office in the land is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan told Trump, wishing him “Godspeed” at his second term.
The sentence is highly unusual, and Merchan suggested he imposed it because of the legal protections afforded to the office of President of the United States.
Stefan Becket contributed to this report.
