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ANDREW McCARTHY: Only a spiteful group wants Trump sentenced before the inauguration



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In what appears to be an attempt to ensure that President-elect Trump enters office as a formally convicted felon, Judge Juan Merchán has denied Trump’s post-trial motions and proposes sentencing him next Friday, January 10.

The bait for Trump to accept this is that Judge Merchan is indicating that the sentence will be a conditional discharge – meaning the president-elect would face no prison time or post-sentence supervision (such as probation). Additionally, because the imposition of the sentence and the entry of the judgment would end the trial court proceedings, Trump would be free to begin his appeal of what would be 34 felony convictions on the charge of falsifying business records. .

I don’t think Trump agrees with this; Instead, I suspect he will seek an immediate appeal on the immunity claims that Merchan conclusively rejected in today’s 18-page document. opinion and order. Not surprisingly, Merchan denied Trump’s immunity claims; He had already spoken out against Trump on this point in an opinion issued on December 16.

NEW YORK JUDGE SETS SENTENCE FOR TRUMP DAYS BEFORE INAUGURATION

In previous proceedings, manhattan’s elected progressive democratic district attorney, Alvin BraggHe appeared to acknowledge that Trump would likely have the right to appeal an immunity ruling against him before he is sentenced. No doubt that’s why, instead of pushing for a sentencing date, Bragg’s prosecutors proposed that the case be frozen, keeping it on hold while Trump served out his four-year presidential term. In that scenario, the case would theoretically resume in 2029 (when Trump would be 82 years old) with the presentation of final rulings, the imposition of the sentence and the issuance of the conviction, and the appeal.

In Friday afternoon’s ruling, Merchan rejected that proposal, arguing that he had a responsibility to sentence Trump before the inauguration, so as not to undermine what the judge considers an important public interest in achieving the sentence.

It is not clear to me that there is such a public interest. Instead, the interest of Merchan – a Democratic activist who contributed to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign against Trump in violation of state judicial ethics rules, to ensure that Trump is branded a convicted felon while there is still a chance, before the inauguration, for that to happen.

However, Merchan seems to recognize that Trump still has cards to play. The opinion says, for example:

“This Court must sentence the defendant within a reasonable time after the verdict; and the defendant must be allowed to take advantage of all available appeals, a path that it has made clear it intends to follow but which only becomes completely available at the time of sentencing. (Emphasis added).”

Let’s put aside how valuable it is for this demonstrably hostile judge to express his deep concerns about Trump’s assertion of appeal rights. Merchan must interject the word “completely” because, while Trump can only file his full appeal based on all claims of error arising from the process only after the ruling, should be able to file a partial appeal directed solely at Merchan’s immunity ruling.

TRUMP BLOWS MERCHAN AND DEMOCRATS WHO ‘JUST WANT TO SEE IF THEY CAN GET A POUND OF MEAT’ AMID FAILED CASES

Merchan then goes on to address Bragg’s proposal to keep the case on hold for four years: “(S) if the Court cannot impose the sentence before the defendant takes the oath of office (on January 20), then this may become the only viable option.”

Once again, Merchan is clearly aware that Trump may be allowed to appeal the immunity portion of the ruling immediately. If that happens, then Merchan would, in effect, be “incapable of sentencing” before Inauguration Day, in which case Trump would not be a convicted felon upon assuming the presidency.

What I find most notable about all of this is Merchan’s description of Trump’s offenses:

“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found the defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with intent to defraud. which included the intent to commit or conceal a conspiracy to promote a presidential election by illegal means. It was the premeditated and continuous deception on the part of the leader of the free world that constitutes the burden of this offense.. (Emphasis added.) Overturning this verdict on the basis that the charges are not serious enough given the position the defendant once held and is about to assume again (i.e., the presidency), would constitute a disproportionate result and would cause a immeasurable damage to citizens. confidence in the rule of law.”

Here, Merchan is swallowing Bragg’s entire description of the case: we’re not just talking about falsification of business records; Trump conspired to steal the 2016 election, a conspiracy that succeeded!

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Now, let’s leave aside that this is not what is charged in the indictment. Let’s put aside that this is a ridiculous claim, that is, even assuming, for the sake of argument, that, as Bragg claimed, Trump’s $130,000 NDA payment to Stormy Daniels was a campaign expense that had to be reported to the Federal Electoral Commission (it wasn’t), it still wouldn’t have had to be reported until after the election – meaning: it wasn’t illegally hidden from voters. And let’s leave aside that, because Merchan (in violation of due process) did not require a unanimous verdict on the crime Trump was allegedly concealing by falsifying his business records, it cannot fairly be said – as the judge claims – that 12 Jurors unanimously determined that he conspired to steal the election.

Ignoring all that, if one truly believed, as Merchan claims to believe, that Trump was proven to have conspired to steal a presidential election – abusing his status, the judge ostensibly adds, as “the leader of the free world” – then How could a responsible judge with a good conscience sentence Trump to a sentence without prison or parole? As Merchan describes it, this was a heinous crime for centuries.

Of course, Merchan doesn’t really believe it. How could I? This was, at best, a trivial, time-barred misdemeanor of record-keeping related to a legal transaction (NDAs are legal and common) that Bragg, with enormous help from Merchan, transformed into 34 felonies in purporting to enforce the financing of federal campaigns. laws that a state prosecutor has no authority to enforce (and that relevant federal authorities concluded Trump did not violate).

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The American people just elected Donald Trump president not only for one Majority of the electoral college but for an advantage in the popular vote. The public did so knowing very well the absurd Bragg criminal case in Manhattan.

Clearly, there is no public clamor to see Trump sentenced before assuming the highest office in the land. Instead, there is a spiteful interest among progressive New York Democrats in branding the Republican president-elect as a convicted felon.

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