Hush money trial
Punishment against Trump comes before inauguration
Trump’s lawyers wanted to prevent the announcement of a penalty against the US President-elect in the hush money trial this Friday. The judge thwarts their plans.
The sentencing in the New York hush money trial against Donald Trump is now scheduled to take place as planned this Friday (January 10th) – ten days before the inauguration of the US President-elect. Judge Juan Merchan rejected a request from Trump’s lawyers to delay the announcement of the sentence. Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as US President on January 20th.
The lawyers had previously announced in a letter on Monday that they would continue to take action against the verdict and asked the judge to suspend the sentence for this time. It is likely that Trump will also appeal the judge’s latest decision.
The trial was about the illegal concealment of $130,000 in hush money that Trump had paid to the porn actress Stormy Daniels – according to the court’s conviction, with the aim of gaining advantages in the 2016 election campaign. Jurors in New York found Trump guilty on 34 counts in late May.
The punishment is unlikely to have a direct impact on Trump’s presidency. Judge Merchan had already indicated that he was not inclined to impose a prison sentence on Trump. The US Congress officially confirmed the Republican’s victory in the presidential election on Monday.
The sentence was originally supposed to have been announced in mid-September. But then Judge Merchan granted Trump’s request that the punishment not be announced until after the presidential election. There has never been a sentencing announcement for a president-elect in US history.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
