Donald Trump was convicted on May 30 in this case of hidden payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels of “aggravated accounting falsification to conceal a conspiracy to pervert the 2016 election.” An infamous first for a former American president and now for an elected president.
The pronouncement of his sentence, postponed many times, was finally set for January 3 by Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the proceedings, for Friday at 9:30 a.m. local (3:30 p.m. in Switzerland).
Trump continues to maintain his innocence
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision, Donald Trump thanked it for “trying to remedy the great injustice of which I was a victim”, without forgetting to attack Judge Merchan as usual, described as “extremely political and corrupt”.
“I am innocent of all the false accusations invented by the judge,” he insisted on his Truth Social network, adding that he would continue to appeal in this case.
After several unsuccessful appeals, the lawyers of the president-elect, who will take office on January 20, petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday to ask it to urgently suspend the procedure in order to “prevent a serious injustice and an attack on the presidential institution and the functioning of the federal government.
-An expected “exemption from punishment”
By a majority of five votes to four, those of the three progressive judges and two of the conservatives, the Court notably considered that Donald Trump could still appeal his conviction through the ordinary channels before the courts of the State of New York.
Furthermore, “the burden that the sentencing will place on the responsibilities of the president-elect is relatively minor in view of the court’s announced intention to pronounce a ‘dispensation of sentence’ after a brief virtual hearing”.
The Supreme Court thus accepts the arguments presented by the Manhattan prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, who had asked it to reject this final appeal by Donald Trump. “There is a major public interest in the sentencing taking place,” he argued, recalling that Judge Merchan “took exceptional measures to minimize the burden on the accused,” including by announcing that he would not sentence him to prison.
Donald Trump “has not provided any factual evidence to support his assertion that his duties as president-elect would virtually prevent him from attending a hearing that will likely last no more than an hour,” the report also noted. prosecutor who convicted the ex-president.
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