Donald Trump acquitted in New York criminal trial, judge wishes him ‘good luck’ in second term
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to unconditional release Friday after being found guilty of falsifying business records in a years-long investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The president-elect has fought this week to block the entire trial, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he attended the sentencing virtually. Trump sat next to his defense attorney Todd Branch.
Trump files motion to uphold ‘illegal verdict’ in New York case
Trump called the case and his ruling “a huge setback for the American court system.”
“This is a huge embarrassment to the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that people witnessed the trial and “decisively” voted to elect him president.
Judge Juan Merchant set the date for January 10, just ten days before he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
From left to right: Judge Juan Mercan, former President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Photos)
Instead of sentencing the president-elect to jail, the silent investigation sentenced him to unconditional release, meaning no punishment was imposed — no jail terms, fines or suspended sentences. The decision also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal his conviction.
“After careful analysis, this court has determined that only a lawful sentence that allows for a verdict of conviction is an unconditional release,” Merchian said on Friday. “My sentence currently covers all 34 counts.”
Merchant added: “Sir, I wish you all the best in your second term in office.”
Merchant said when arranging sentencing last week that he was unlikely to “impose any custodial sentence” but instead “an unconditional discharge”, meaning no punishment would be imposed.
Trump appealed to the New York State Court of Appeals to prevent the verdict from proceeding. The court rejected his request.
Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, saying he “immediately ordered a stay of criminal proceedings pending in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York.”
The high court denied the request, saying “the stay petition filed with Judge Sotomayor and transmitted by her to the Court is denied for, among other reasons, the following reasons.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Tuesday, January 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump says he respects Supreme Court’s decision to deny his request to halt sentencing, vows to appeal
“First, alleged evidentiary irregularities in President-elect Trump’s state court trial may be resolved in the ordinary course of appeals,” the Supreme Court order filed late Thursday said. The court said after a brief virtual hearing that it intended to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’, thus imposing relatively little responsibility on the president-elect.
The order also states that “Judges Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh will grant the petition.”
On October 7, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court posed for a formal portrait in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Huang/Getty Images)
Trump needs five votes to approve his request. Notes on the order indicate that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett were joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown-Jackson vote.
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Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and has repeatedly accused it of being an example of “law” being pushed by Democrats to hurt his election efforts before November.
