Donald Trump’s bid to toss his “hush money” case was denied Friday by a Manhattan judge — who scheduled the president-elect’s sentencing for 10 days before the inauguration but indicated he wouldn’t be jailed.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan wrote in the highly-anticipated decision that he was inclined to sentence Trump to “unconditional discharge” — meaning no imprisonment, fines or probation supervision.
But it means Trump, 78, will likely be the first president convicted of felony crimes when he takes office on Jan. 20.
Merchan kept intact the jury verdict finding Trump guilty on 34 felonies for concealing a payoff that hid a sex scandal before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump was convicted of 34 felonies for covering up the hush money deal, but the conviction had little impact on voters. Getty Images
He didn’t buy the argument by Trump’s attorneys that the conviction should be overturned based on July’s US Supreme Court ruling immunizing a president for “official acts” taken in office.
Merchan said in his ruling that immunity from criminal process for a sitting president does not extent to a president-elect, and does not require that the verdict be tossed — something he described as “drastic” and “rare.”
The