Unconditional dismissal in New York money laundering case

The elected president Donald Trump was convicted without penalty on Friday in a criminal money laundering case in New York, 10 days before he was inaugurated for a second term in the White House.

Manhattan Judge Juan Mercant sentenced Trump to “unconditional release,” meaning no jail time, probation or fines.

But formally, the sentence would make Trump the first convicted felon to ever occupy the Oval Office.

“It was a very horrible experience,” said Trump, who attended the hearing remotely before receiving the verdict.

“This was a political witch hunt,” he said, claiming the case was filed “to damage my reputation so that I lose the election.”

In May, a jury convicted Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying commercial records related to a $130,000 payment his personal attorney made to porn star Stormi Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels was paid to remain silent over allegations that she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, claims the president-elect has denied.

Merchan said that the only legal sentence he could pass without impeaching the presidency was unconditional release.

Protecting that office “is the factor that trumps all others,” Merchan said.

“Donald Trump, an ordinary citizen, and Donald Trump, a criminal defendant, will not be entitled to such significant protections,” he said.

Prosecutor Joshua Stinglas noted at the start of the hearing that each of the charges against Trump carries a sentence of up to four years in state prison.

But “people are recommending unconditional release,” Stinglas said.

“One must respect the office of the president and remember that in 10 days this defendant will be inaugurated as president,” he explained.

But the prosecutor also criticized Trump for his relentless attacks on the justice system throughout the case, saying the president-elect “has done serious damage to the public’s perception of the criminal justice system.”

Trump, appearing on a monitor wearing a red striped tie and sitting in front of American flags, frowned and looked sad during Stinglas’ remarks.

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, responded that he disagreed with the prosecutor about the merits of the case and about Trump’s conduct.

“It’s a sad day for President Trump and his family and his friends, but it’s also … a sad day for this country,” said Blanche, who Trump has tapped to serve as deputy U.S. attorney general in the next administration.

Despite his complaints in the courtroom, Trump declared victory on social media after the hearing.

“Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, un-American witch hunt,” Trump wrote. Social truth. His post argued that the no-punishment sentence proved the case was moot, although Merchan made it clear that he granted the unconditional dismissal because Trump would soon become president.

Thursday’s hearing came a day after Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, attended former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington. The Trumps sat with every other former president.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night removed the last legal hurdle to Trump’s sentencing, denying his request to block the case.

The decision was narrow — 5 to 4 — with Trump appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and three liberal justices in the majority ruling.

The ruling noted that Trump’s sentence would place a “relatively insignificant” burden on his presidential duties because he is expected to receive a sentence that does not carry actual punishment, and that he still has the right to appeal allegations that Merchan illegally submitted certain evidence to the court.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that he is immune from criminal prosecution, but courts have repeatedly rejected that claim as it relates to the hush money case because he was not yet president when the case first took place.