Donald Trump has been sentenced in the hush money case, found guilty on all charges.

On January 10, US President-elect Donald Trump received a verdict in the hush money case, which affirmed his guilt but allowed him to return to the White House without facing the risk of jail time or fines. Mr. Trump was found guilty by a jury on all charges.

US President-elect Donald Trump called the case a “weaponization of government ” and “an embarrassment to New York.” He insisted he had not committed any crime. (Source: Getty Images)

The case marks the first time a former US president who was also a leading presidential candidate has been criminally prosecuted.

It is also the only one of four criminal charges against Mr Trump to go to trial and is likely to be the only one that will go to trial. The sentencing comes just 10 days before his second inauguration.

In a statement to the court that lasted about six minutes, Mr. Trump, speaking calmly but firmly, called the case a “weaponization of government” and “an embarrassment to New York.” He insisted he had not committed any crime.

After the hearing, which lasted about half an hour, Mr. Trump wrote on his social media that the trial was “a despicable farce.” He emphasized that he would appeal the verdict.

Manhattan District Judge Juan Merchan opted to impose a non-punishment sentence to avoid complicated constitutional issues and ensure that Mr. Trump would become the first president to take office with a felony conviction on his record.

Mr Trump's sentence of no penalty, known as an unconditional release, is rare for felony cases.

Judge Juan Merchan said he had to respect Mr. Trump’s upcoming legal rights as president and take the jury’s decision into account. “While these legal protections are broad, they do not include the power to overturn a jury’s verdict,” Merchan said.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who brought the indictment, was involved in the controversial case, which broke the norm and resulted in Trump being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.

The trial lasted nearly two months and ended with a jury finding Mr Trump guilty on all charges. But the legal maelstrom – along with the scandalous details revealed in court about a conspiracy to cover up alleged extramarital affairs – did not sway the views of US voters, who elected Mr Trump to a second term in November 2024.

“The American people had the opportunity to look at this and decide for themselves whether this was the kind of case that was worth bringing to trial,” said Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney. “And they made their decision.”

The specific allegations in the hush money case involve checks and accounting. But the underlying charges are sensitive and tied to Trump’s political career. Trump is accused of falsifying corporate records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who was paid toward the end of Trump’s 2016 campaign to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she said occurred a decade earlier.

Mr Trump denies any wrongdoing and insists he has done nothing wrong. Mr Trump’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to block the trial. They also failed in their bid to have the verdict overturned or at least the sentencing postponed.

Judge Merchan, a Democrat, has repeatedly postponed the verdict, which was originally scheduled for July 2024, but last week he insisted that the case needed to be concluded.

Donald Trump's lawyers then launched a series of last-minute efforts to stop the sentencing, but their hopes were dashed on the evening of January 9 when the US Supreme Court rejected the request for a delay by a vote of 5-4.

Meanwhile, other criminal cases against Mr. Trump have either ended or stalled before going to trial.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ong-donald-trump-da-nhan-ban-an-trong-vu-an-chi-tien-bit-mieng-bi-ket-luan-co-toi-doi-voi-tat-ca-cac-cao-buoc-300469.html