Although he did not face any fines or jail time in the criminal case involving the hush money payments, Mr. Trump is now convicted under U.S. law.
On January 9, the US Supreme Court rejected Mr. Trump's request to block the proceedings, citing its own ruling on presidential immunity, allowing Judge Juan Merchan to conduct an online trial on January 10.
“I affirm that unconditional release is appropriate. I make this order,” Judge Merchan said on January 10, agreeing with the prosecutors’ request.
“This ruling establishes the status of a convicted felon, even if he appeals,” the prosecutors argued, meaning Trump will not face direct punishment, but will still be considered guilty in the legal record.
For his part, Mr. Trump continued to deny the accusations. “I am innocent of all the fabricated and phony charges brought by the judge,” he wrote on the Truth Social network. “This is a weaponization of the judicial system to attack a political opponent. This is a dirty legal practice, unprecedented in American history, and it must never happen again.”
In 2023, Mr. Trump was charged with falsely reporting “hush money” payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2017. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg upgraded what would normally be considered misdemeanors to 34 criminal counts, one for each mention of the payment in Mr. Trump’s filings.
Despite his guilty verdict in May, the US Supreme Court ruled in July that the president’s official actions while in office could not be prosecuted. However, Judge Merchan rejected that opinion last month and continued the case.
In a final move, the US Supreme Court on January 9 refused to postpone the sentencing hearing with a 5-4 vote, with the consensus of two conservative judges John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett and three liberal judges.
Despite all the legal troubles, American voters still supported Mr. Trump in the November election, giving him both the popular vote and the electoral college to defeat Ms. Harris. Mr. Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.
