Trump Sentenced in New York Without Consequences

Trump will be the first president to take office with a criminal record, but it will have no consequences other than “tarnishing” his criminal record certificate.

Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump in connection with a case involving payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels, but he won’t go to jail or pay a fine. Merchan also said that the decision not to impose any punishment for the offense was related to the tycoon’s return to the White House: “It was the citizens of this country who decided that you should enjoy protections like the Supremacy Clause and presidential immunity,” he said, referring to Trump. “The significant, indeed extraordinary, legal protection afforded by the position of commander-in-chief is a factor that overrides all others,” Merchan concluded. “Despite the extraordinary breadth of those legal protections, one power they do not provide is that they do not erase a jury verdict.”

The president-elect called the case a “disgusting farce,” insisting he was innocent and calling the proceedings “a political witch hunt to damage my reputation” and “a failure of the New York justice system.” Trump also announced that he would appeal this “deception that I don’t deserve.”