Justice Juan Merchan denied President-elect Donald Trump's request to toss his conviction and instead set sentencing for Jan. 10, the Washington Examiner reported. The Democratic Manhattan judge has indicated that Trump would likely not face any jail time.
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felonies over a payment he made to former porn star Stormy Daniels and how it was paid. He allegedly was attempting to keep their affair secret during the 2016 presidential campaign with the payment.
After Trump's conviction by a Manhattan jury, the judge set sentencing for Nov. 26. However, that date was pushed back after Trump won another term in the White House on Nov. 5.
In Friday's order, Merchan wrote that Trump would receive a sentence of "unconditional discharge," which means Trump avoids probation, fines, or prison. Still, it will come just 10 days before he is set to take office.
Trump faced four separate cases after announcing he would run for the presidency. Of those, only the New York case made it to trial before Election Day because of various factual and legal obstacles.
His legal team failed to get Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Trump thrown out after the Supreme Court ruled in his favor over presidential immunity. Friday's decision confirmed that this case wasn't ending, and Trump allies were predictably unhappy.
"Democrat Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan—who donated to Trump’s opponents and whose adult daughter Loren is raising money off of this bogus case—once again proves he is partisan, corrupt, and dangerous. The Supreme Court must end this immediately," Article III Project founder Mike Davis said.
Trump's spokesman, Steven Cheung, also slammed Merchan's ruling. "This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed," he said in a statement.
"Today’s order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence," Cheung added. This is just the latest in a string of injustices against Trump.
According to NBC News, Trump faced four major criminal cases as of this time last year. His legal woes still persist today, but many of those prosecutions are only hanging together by a thread.
For instance, the election interference case in Georgia is indefinitely on hold after it was discovered that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had a relationship with the prosecutor she hired for the case. Trump and the other defendants have argued that she should be disqualified because of that.
Even if the issue is resolved in the courts, bringing that case once again will be an uphill battle. Trump's federal case over the Jan. 6 attack has been dismissed, as was the classified documents case in Florida.
The hefty $350 million judgment against Trump for allegedly inflating the value of his assets is still outstanding, but Trump's legal team continues to appeal the penalty. Thankfully, none of these cases were enough to keep Trump out of the White House.
These cases brought against Trump were suspiciously timed just as he announced his intention to run for the presidency again. They have fallen one by one, but Merchan is clearly holding on to the last one standing.
