President-elect Trump appears virtually for hush money case sentencing

NEW YORK -- The sentencing hearing for President-elect Donald Trump is now underway on the 15th floor of the Lower Manhattan courthouse.

Though the president-elect is not here physically, his face is plastered across multiple identical screens mounted across the walls of the courtroom.

Judge Juan Merchan took the bench at 9:34 a.m. to gavel in the proceedings.

Trump is wearing his usual suit and tie on the screen and is seated next to his attorney Todd Blanche with two large American flags positioned behind them.

Emile Bove is the lone representative from the Trump team in court, seated by himself at the defense table where Trump sat for six weeks.

The president-elect was told he could address the court if he wished. But first, Joshua Steinglass, one of the prosecutors opened by saying prosecutors agree with the expected sentence of unconditional discharge.

Trump has not spoken but shook his head when the court reiterated his conviction.

President-elect Trump's conduct has caused permanent and lasting damage to the rule of law in the United States, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told Judge Juan Merchan at the start of the sentencing hearing.

"Instead of preserving, protecting, and defending our established system of criminal justice, the once and future president engaged in a campaign to undermine its legitimacy," Steinglass said, as Trump looked on remotely.

"This defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and put its officers of the court in harm's way," he added.

According to Steinglass, Trump has refused to show remorse, has been "unrelenting in his unsubstantiated attacks" on the court, and "publicly threatened to retaliate" against prosecutions and the court.

"Such threats are designed to have a chilling effect, to intimidate those who have the responsibility to enforce our laws," Steinglass said.

Despite all of this, Steinglass said that the Manhattan District Attorney recommends a sentence of an unconditional discharge.

"The American public has the right to a presidency unencumbered by court proceedings," said Steinglass, adding he is "mindful of the fact that the defendant will be inaugurated as president in 10 days"

Trump's attorney Todd Blanche is up next.

Ten days ahead of his presidential inauguration, Trump is scheduled to be sentenced for committing what the judge in his case characterized as a "premeditated and continuous deception" to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.

The sentencing effectively finalizes his unprecedented status as the first former president to be a convicted criminal.

The sentencing hearing concludes an embarrassing and nearly decade-long ordeal for the former president, who has long maintained his innocence but sat through weeks of testimony detailing an alleged scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying off an adult film actress who said she had affair with Trump in 2006, three months after his wife gave birth to his youngest son.

"So I'll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent," Trump told reporters Thursday night ahead of the sentencing.

Trump was convicted by a jury in May following a six-week trial and was set to be sentenced in July, but a sweeping Supreme Court ruling and his successful presidential campaign helped his lawyers delay his sentencing three times. His lawyers attempted to accomplish the same feat this week but were denied four separate times -- including by the U.S. Supreme Court -- after arguing that Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution as president-elect.

"Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests," Trump's lawyers unsuccessfully argued.

A narrowly divided Supreme Court denied the request on Thursday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointee Amy Coney Barrett joining the court's three liberal justices. The majority wrote that the hearing imposed a "relatively insubstantial" burden on Trump based on the anticipated sentence.

Judge Juan Merchan -- who has overseen the case since April 2023 -- suggested in a court filing last week that he plans to sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, a rarely used option that allows the judge to finalize the judgment in the case without handing down punishment. If his sentence is unconditionally discharged, Trump would receive no jail time, financial penalty, or probationary period.

Though Merchan could have sentenced Trump up to four years in prison, he opted to give him the lightest possible sentence to "ensure finality" -- including Trump's right to appeal -- while also respecting the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effect on Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.

The sentencing is expected to take approximately one hour and include what's called an allocution, in which Trump can make a statement to the court. Judge Merchan is also expected to comment on the nature of crime for which Trump was convicted. In a filing last week, the judge harshly criticized what he called Trump's "disdain" for the
judiciary.

"Defendant's disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record," Merchan wrote. "Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries, and the justice system as a whole."

Since his conviction, Trump has maintained his innocence and has baselessly alleged that he is the victim of political persecution directed by the federal government. Leaving the courtroom shortly after his conviction in May, Trump blasted the trial as a "disgrace" and Judge Merchan as "corrupt."

"The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people," the newly convicted Trump declared.