Judge Merchan Orders Trump Sentencing Hearing Before Inauguration

Donald Trump had been hoping Judge Merchan would throw out the hush money verdict against him.

That, however, is not going to happen. Quite the opposite, actually.

The Hush Money Case

When the hush-money case was presented, most of us stated that the charges were way out of line.

Generally, this is something that is a misdemeanor, resulting in a fine, penalty, back taxes, and a small wrap on the knuckles, nothing more. In fact, when the case was originally presented, the DA’s office declined to prosecute.

It was only after a Biden operative went to work for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office that the three dozen felony charges were introduced against Trump.

The deck was stacked against Trump from the outset, so as I had stated at the time, it was no surprise to see Trump convicted, but I definitely thought he would win the case on appeal or have the verdict outright overturned.

Throw It Out

After the verdict came in, Trump tried repeatedly to have the case tossed out of court, but his attorneys were taking a baffling approach.

They kept insisting that Trump had presidential immunity, which is ridiculous.

First, Trump was not even president when the alleged crimes occurred, so presidential immunity is not even relevant in the case. Second, even if Trump were in office at the time, this was his private business and had nothing to do with official acts of a sitting president, so immunity was never an option.

The one motion Donald Trump did win was to delay sentencing until after the election. After he won, it looked like Merchan was going to dismiss the case, but he came up with another solution.

Sentencing Coming Up

Once again, Trump tried to have the case tossed on presidential immunity, and once again, Judge Merchan declined the motion. He also stunned Trump by stating that he would hold the sentencing hearing on January 10, which Trump needed to attend either in person or via teleconference.

Merchan does not want to vacate the verdict, but he also stated that he was not going to sentence Trump to jail, which is the right call. Instead, Merchan will give Trump an “unconditional discharge,” which means there will be no punishment, but Democrats can still hang the “convicted felon” label on Trump.

Incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung unleashed his usual venom after the ruling, stating, "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.”

To be quite blunt, Cheung is completely wrong because the ruling is not a direct violation of the Supreme Court ruling, and quite frankly, I am getting sick and tired of them misleading the American people on this front. I will tell you 100 times out of 100 that I think Trump was overcharged and this case was a complete and utter joke, but I would also maintain that presidential immunity is not relevant in this case, and they need to stop getting people whipped up over this issue because it is blatant misinformation.