CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday that the chances of President-elect Donald Trump’s court sentencing actually occurring is up in the air.
A jury found Trump guilty of 13 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged that the two had an affair in 2006. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money case, set the sentencing date to Nov. 26, which Honig said could possibly be dropped due to Trump’s election victory.
“I think it’s gonna be a 50/50 call whether it happens or not,” Honig said. “As Paula Reid and others have reported, Trump’s team is arguing that that sentencing should not go forward because Donald Trump is now the president-elect. If it does go forward … again, there’s a 50/50ish chance that Judge Merchan will impose a prison sentence as opposed to a probation sentence, but even if the judge does hold this sentencing on November 26, and even if the judge says, ‘I hereby sentence you to X [time] in prison,’ Donald Trump’s not gonna serve that time while he’s in transition as he is now, or certainly while he’s president. I think it’s gonna be just formal or ceremonial if it comes to that.”
Merchan could issue a “bail pending appeal” that would not require Trump to serve time in prison or serve his sentence until all of his appeals have been decided, Honig said. Trump cannot serve time in jail during his presidency because a state cannot “interfere with a President’s ability to do his job,” which has evaporated his chances of serving time, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday.
Smith is currently communicating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on dropping the cases, as Trump has stated he will fire the special counsel “within two seconds.” Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in two separate legal cases, the first with over 30 counts of unlawfully storing classified materials in his Mar-a-Lago home and the second alleging that he engaged in conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump with 18 counts in August 2023 under Georgia’s “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations” (RICO) Act for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. The Georgia Court of Appeals put the case on hold in June over a pending case deciding whether to disqualify Willis over an alleged undisclosed relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Democrats have threatened to “resist” Trump’s upcoming presidency, including Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said Wednesday that she will continue pursuing legal challenges against Trump despite him service in the Oval Office. Democrat Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and “Never Trumper” Bill Kristol called on Trump’s victory to be resisted.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/CNN])
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