According to the order of Judge Juan Merchan, made public Friday, Donald Trump, found guilty of aggravated accounting falsification and attempted electoral manipulation, will have to appear in New York for his sentence on January 10, ten days before he takes office in the White House. Although incarceration remains a legal possibility, the magistrate said he was not in favor of such a measure against the future president. Donald Trump will be able to choose to appear in person or by videoconference.
Donald Trump's spokesperson, Steven Cheung, strongly denounced a “direct attack on presidential immunity” after the announcement of the president-elect's sentence. For his part, Donald Trump denounced an “illegitimate political attack”. This conviction comes in the context of a case of hidden payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, which led, on May 30, to a historic legal decision.
Trial under high political tension
The trial, which lasted six weeks in a tense climate in the middle of the electoral campaign, resulted in a conviction of Donald Trump on 34 counts. New York justice accuses him of having concealed a payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 presidential election, in order to conceal an alleged extramarital affair. Donald Trump has always denied any relationship with the adult film actress.
Since then, Donald Trump's camp has increased its appeals to overturn this verdict, invoking presidential immunity. Despite a Supreme Court decision last July expanding presidential protections, Judge Juan Merchan continued the procedure, arousing the anger of those close to the president-elect.
Pressure on justice and “witch hunt”
Steven Cheung did not mince his words against the justice system and the outgoing administration of Joe Biden, accused of orchestrating a “witch hunt”. According to him, the decision to maintain the criminal proceedings despite the immunity extended by the Supreme Court is a political maneuver aimed at destabilizing the coming presidency.
Our file on Donald Trump
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has tried to limit the political fallout by proposing not giving Donald Trump prison time or suspending proceedings while he is in office. A proposal rejected by the camp of the elected president, who continues to denounce a judicial cabal.
A final criminal obstacle for Trump
While federal justice has abandoned two criminal proceedings against him, linked to the 2020 election and the retention of classified documents, this case remains the only criminal legal sword of Damocles for Donald Trump. However, on the civil side, he still faces several financial proceedings in New York, where he could be ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
For now, the criminal proceedings concerning Stormy Daniels are continuing their course, marking an unprecedented episode in the history of the United States: that of an elected president, tried and convicted even before taking office, despite extended presidential immunity. . The judge's final decision will be crucial in defining the legal contours of Donald Trump's second term.
