The president-elect declared his innocence and decried the case as a political ‘witch-hunt.’
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced in New York on Jan. 10, more than six months after being found guilty by a Manhattan jury of falsifying business records. When speaking in court for the first time, he declared his innocence.
Justice Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to unconditional release, which means he will not face any prison time or penalties. In handing down the sentence, Merchan noted that Trump is the president-elect and will soon take office.
Although Trump fought the sentencing in court, Merchan could have sentenced him to up to four years in prison.
In May 2024, Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made during the 2016 election campaign to a woman who claimed she had an affair with him about a decade earlier. He pleaded not guilty and categorically denied the affair allegations, stressing that the payments were merely recorded as legal expenses.
Trump Speaks During Sentencing
The president-elect provided comments during Friday’s sentencing hearing, appearing virtually via Microsoft Teams, a video chat conferencing service. His attorney who appeared next to him, Todd Blanche, said that the pair were in Florida.
As Merchan delivered the sentence, Trump sat upright, lips pursed, and was frowning slightly. He tilted his head to the side as the judge wished him “Godspeed” in his second term in office.
Before Merchan’s sentencing, the president-elect again declared his innocence.
“I’m totally innocent. I did nothing wrong,” he told the court and the judge.
He argued that voters saw what happened in this courtroom and, like him, thought it was a disgrace and supported him overwhelmingly in the election.
“It’s been a political witch hunt,” Trump said. “It was done to damage my reputation so that I would lose the election, and obviously, that didn’t work.”
Trump said that the case and trial have “been a very terrible experience” that also marks a “tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system,” according to courthouse reporters.
