Court stopped short of sentencing Trump to jail or fine in document forgery case
The court in New York refused to sentence US President-elect Donald Trump to a prison term or a fine in the case of forgery of financial documents of the Trump Organization in the payment to ex-porn actress Stormy Daniels. This was reported by CNN on January 10.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled to release Trump from prosecution of the case without any conditions. The TV channel drew attention to the fact that the President-elect did not react in any way to the decision.
According to US law, the unconditional release to which Trump was sentenced leaves in force the conviction, but releases the defendant from any punishment, and the case is closed. Trump thus becomes the first convicted president in US history.
"It was a political witch hunt, it was arranged to harm my reputation," said the US President-elect, speaking at the court hearing.
Merchan, in turn, noted that there was a completely unique and remarkable set of circumstances in this case, which makes Trump's criminal case an exceptional case.
Earlier, on January 8, the US president-elect filed a motion to stay the verdict in the case to the Supreme Court. In addition, Trump asked for a general stay of proceedings. The following day, the New York Court of Appeals denied the request.
The Washington Post reported on Dec. 8 that the court temporarily blocked the release of a report summarizing special prosecutor Jack Smith's investigations into Trump.
Trump, in turn, on January 3 called the judge's decision to set the sentencing date for January 10 a farce. The US president-elect pointed out that such a ruling contradicts the statute of limitations and the American Constitution.
According to the prosecution's version, Trump in 2006 became intimate with porn actress Stormy Daniels, and in 2016 his lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130 thousand in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement. After his election to the presidency, Trump reimbursed Cohen's financial spending by disguising the payments as legal fees. The checks totaled $420,000.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty in the case of forgery of financial documents. The President-elect himself said after the meeting that it was nothing more than falsification, behind which is the current head of state Joe Biden, who wants in this way to get rid of the main rival in the now past elections. Later, Trump called the jury's decision on the first case a scam and pointed out that now every American is at risk of criminal prosecution.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
