Judge in ‘hush money’ case orders for Trump to be sentenced 10 days before inauguration

CV NEWS FEED // The judge overseeing the controversial New York City “hush money” case against the president-elect ordered that Donald Trump be sentenced next Friday – just a week and a half before Trump is set to begin his second White House term.

The case had resulted in then-candidate Trump’s May 2024 conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Observers across the political spectrum have widely described the legal proceedings and its resulting guilty verdict as politically motivated “lawfare.”

The Daily Wire reported Friday evening that Judge Juan Merchan “denied Trump’s motion to vacate the guilty verdict in the highly controversial case that even many Democrats have said should have never been brought.”

The judge “ordered Trump to appear for sentencing “in person or virtually” on January 10, 2025, at 9:30 a.m,” The Daily Wire’s report added.

Trump’s incoming Communications Director Steven Cheung stated: “Today’s order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence.”

“This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Cheung emphasized:

President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts. There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.

Shortly after the news broke, legal scholar and George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the “sentence will finalize the case and allow for an appeal.”

“However, it would also label the President-elect a convicted felon just before he is sworn into office,” Turley added. “It is the final cathartic act for lawfare warriors.”

“Merchan will supply the talking point for the inauguration coverage as reporters repeat the mantra of the historic status of Trump being sworn in as a convicted felon,” the legal expert continued:

Yet we will also finally be able to see an appeal of his case. While there are low expectations for the New York court system, the sentencing will allow the full array of alleged errors by Merchan to be placed before appellate judges.

FOX Business’ Charles Gasparino reported on X that a lawyer for the president-elect stated: “It’s an unconditional discharge sentence which means no penalties and DJT can appeal.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, blasted Merchan’s move, writing on X that it “once again—demonstrates that he is a political activist (and Biden donor!) first, and a judge second.”

“The entire case against President Trump was a farce,” Cotton stated in a subsequent X post. 

“34 felonies for correctly categorizing a legal payment, in a district where killers walk free,” he added, referring to the legal jurisdiction of Manhattan, New York, where Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg – who controversially brought the case – serves as lead prosecutor.

“But perhaps most outrageous? ‘Judge’ Juan Merchan is a Joe Biden donor,” the senator wrote, reiterating his previous point. “If that is not a conflict, nothing is.”