By Tom Howell Jr. The Washington Times Friday, January 10, 2025

NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump will be sentenced Friday by a New York judge for the felony convictions handed down by a Manhattan jury last spring.

He is the first former, sitting or future president to face a criminal reckoning.

State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan is not expected to impose jail time or probation, but the situation casts an unflattering light on Mr. Trump just 10 days before his triumphant return to the White House.

Mr. Trump is expected to appear before the court virtually from his home in Florida.

Still, the sentencing caused a mild stir outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, where reporters lined up early for a seat at the historic event.

Unlike the trial, there were no noticeable protesters outside, in part because Mr. Trump would not be arriving.

Mr. Trump tried every maneuver he could to stave off sentencing before his inauguration. 

His lawyers said the case should have been dismissed outright, arguing prosecutors violated a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity by using certain evidence at trial. They also said Mr. Trump, as president-elect, should be shielded from criminal proceedings.

The New York appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court did not accept his arguments and allowed the sentencing to proceed.

It is unclear whether the hearing will remain business-like or get testy.

Judge Merchan could offer stern words for the president-elect over his conviction, and Mr. Trump hasn’t been shy about criticizing the judge, even proposing he lose his ability to practice law.

Judge Merchan has authorized the release of hearing audio following the proceedings — perhaps so the nature of the proceedings is not spun in the political sphere, or because he has a message for the broader world.

A Manhattan jury convicted Mr. Trump in May of falsifying business records in an attempt to hide hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. He was found guilty of all 34 counts.

During the trial, prosecutors said Mr. Trump criminally concealed payments to Ms. Daniels around the 2016 campaign with an intent to violate election laws.

The payments were designed to keep Ms. Daniels quiet about an alleged sexual encounter about a decade earlier in Lake Tahoe. Mr. Trump says the encounter did not happen.

Prosecutors said Mr. Trump paid Ms. Daniels through Michael Cohen and concealed reimbursements to the lawyer in 2017 by misidentifying checks.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers said he was busy running the country and thought he was paying Mr. Cohen for legal services, so his team logged the checks in that manner. They also accused the prosecution of using novel legal theories to mount a political hit job against Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.

The multiweek trial kept Mr. Trump trapped in a dingy courtroom in lower Manhattan for weeks while the GOP primary unfolded.

Mr. Trump turned the courthouse hallway into his personal campaign stage, however, easily winning the party nomination before defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in November.