Donald Trump will receive his sentence on January 10 for his conviction in the trial against Stormy Daniels. Even if he is not likely to face major consequences, this sentence remains symbolic, according to a civil law lawyer.
• Also read: Stormy Daniels affair: Donald Trump will receive his sentence ten days before his inauguration
• Also read: Stormy Daniels affair: “Nothing is going to happen” for Donald Trump
• Also read: Flags at half mast at his inauguration: Donald Trump annoyed by the tribute to Jimmy Carter
Judge Juan Merchan confirmed Friday that he would propose his sentence in this case on January 10, ten days before the inauguration of the future president.
“Juan Merchan wanted to move beyond the presidential election of Donald Trump by explaining that everyone was accountable to justice, including the president-elect,” said Mr.e Olivier Piton, civil law lawyer in the United States, in an interview with LCN on Saturday. According to him, the judge will see this trial through to the end.
It goes without saying that the verdict, announced on May 30, made history, since it was a criminal first for an American president.
However, with his quickly approaching inauguration, Trump is unlikely to end up in jail or pay a large fine, according to Ms.e Python.
“That is to say, it will just be a conviction, the recognition of the 34 charges that had been put in place and ordered by the jury,” said the lawyer.
“There will be no concrete consequences for Donald Trump,” he added. “It’s an empty sentence […]but symbolic.”
Photo AFP
An attack on presidential immunity?
Donald Trump was very frustrated during Judge Merchan’s announcement.
“There has never been a president who has been treated as despicably as I have. […] Corrupt judges or judges so blinded by their hatred of me,” he wrote in his Truth Social network.
Its spokesperson, Steven Cheung, also told AFP that this announcement was “a direct attack on the Supreme Court’s decision regarding presidential immunity”.
“No, that’s not one,” replied lawyer Olivier Piton.
Since the facts for which Trump is convicted date back to 2004, before he became president in 2016, this statement is completely false, according to him.
“There is absolutely no connection, at least during his presidency, since the $130,000 was delivered through attorney Cohen before he was president. So, the decision of the Supreme Court to put in place this presidential immunity, in this case, absolutely does not apply,” he stressed.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
