'45, 47, felon': Trump sentenced, expert warns ' the gloves could com off'

Why Trump’s Conviction Barely Registered in Polls

His guilty verdict cost him no more than a smidgen of support.

https://www.theatlantic.com/

By Russell Berman

 

Mark Peterson / Redux

 

 

'45, 47, felon': Trump sentenced but expert warns 'now the gloves could come off'

'45, 47, 중범죄자': 트럼프는 선고를 받았지만 전문가는 '이제 장갑이 벗겨질 수 있다'고 경고합니다.

Alternet

David Badash의 이야기

11/01/2025

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the 9/11 observance at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo© provided by AlterNet

도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령과 영부인 멜라니아 트럼프가 2017년 9월 11일 미국 버지니아주 알링턴의 국립 9/11 펜타곤 기념관에서 열린 9/11 추모식에 참석하고 있다. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo© AlterNet 제공

 

President-elect Donald Trump, at 10:07 AM ET on Friday, was sentenced by Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan after a jury of his peers found him guilty on 34 criminal felony counts of business fraud for what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described as “falsifying New York business records in order to conceal his illegal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election.”

 

 

도널드 트럼프 대통령 당선인은 금요일 오전 10시 7분(동부 표준시)에 앨빈 브래그 맨해튼 지검장이 "2016년 선거를 부패시키려는 불법적인 계획을 은폐하기 위해 뉴욕 사업 기록을 위조했다"고 묘사한 34건의 사업 사기 혐의에 대해 유죄 평결을 내린 후 후안 머천 뉴욕 대법원 판사 대행에 의해 선고를 받았다.

 

He received no punishment. In 10 days, Donald Trump will become the first person to enter the White House as President of the United States as a convicted felon, barring any extraordinary efforts.

Trump’s “conviction, a Class E felony offense, is eligible for a penalty of up to four years in prison and several thousands of dollars in fines per count,” Politico reports. But Judge Merchan “instead issued a so-called ‘unconditional discharge,’ a decision that will spare the incoming president any jail time, fines or probation.”

Merchan told Trump, “This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgement of conviction, without encroaching on the highest office of the land is unconditional discharge,” The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports.

 

그는 아무런 처벌도 받지 않았다. 10일 후면 도널드 트럼프는 특별한 노력을 기울이지 않는 한 유죄 판결을 받은 중범죄자로 미국 대통령으로서 백악관에 입성하는 첫 번째 사람이 될 것입니다.

폴리티코는 "E급 중범죄인 트럼프의 유죄 판결은 최대 4년의 징역형과 건당 수천 달러의 벌금을 부과할 수 있다"고 보도했다. 그러나 머챈 판사는 "그 대신 소위 '무조건적 면책'을 내렸는데, 이 결정은 차기 대통령이 징역형, 벌금 또는 집행 유예를 면할 수 있도록 하는 것이었다."

가디언의 휴고 로웰은 트럼프에게 "이 법원은 이 나라의 최고 공직을 침해하지 않으면서 유죄 판결을 내릴 수 있는 유일한 합법적인 선고는 무조건적인 해고라고 결정했다"고 말했다.

 

READ MORE: ‘MAGA Friendly’ Fetterman Blasted for Accepting Trump Mar-a-Lago Invite

 

Trump said Thursday night he will appeal the conviction.

The President-elect was allowed to appear virtually and was accompanied by his attorney, Todd Blanche. Trump has indicated he will nominate Blanche to be the United States Deputy Attorney General.

A billionaire real estate magnate who entered politics with no experience in 2015 by showcasing his wealth and attacking Mexican immigrants, Trump found his 2016 presidential campaign in jeopardy after the “Access Hollywood” tape was released. It showed a grown man making lewd comments about women, including what many perceived as him joking about, and appearing to brag and admit to, sexual assault. Originally recorded in 2005, it was released just one month before the 2016 election to widespread and bipartisan condemnation. Denying his comments were admitting to sexual assault, Trump called it “locker room talk.”

 

 

Trump was found to have paid “hush money” to adult film actress Stormy Daniels—with whom he reportedly had a sexual encounter—in what prosecutors said was an effort to protect his presidential campaign.

A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump in March of 2023. He was arraigned days later. The jury trial was held in April of 2024. Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts.

Trump had made desperate attempts to delay sentencing, which originally had been scheduled for July 11, and had already been postponed twice. But Thursday night, after three New York courts refused his requests, the U.S. Supreme Court also refused to stay Friday’s sentencing.

“Over the past week, Trump’s lawyers filed hundreds of pages of high-pitched arguments in four courts, at every level of the NY judiciary and SCOTUS, in a failed bid to stop these proceedings,” reported Just Security’s Adam Klasfeld

 

During Friday’s sentencing, New York prosecutor Joshua Steinglass berated Trump and his actions.

“This defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm’s way,” he told Judge Merchan, according to Courthouse News reporter Erik Uebelacker.

Steinglass added that Trump “engaged in a coordinated campaign to undermine its legitimacy. Far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct, the defendant has purposely bred disdain … for the rule of law,” Uebelacker also reported.

Klasfeld reported that Steinglass also told the court: “Today’s sentence ‘cements’ Trump’s ‘status as a convicted felon’ and ‘gives full respect to the jury’s verdict.'”

“After confirm‎ing that prosecutors recommend a sentence of unconditional discharge,” Klasfeld added, “Assistant DA Joshua Steinglass tears into [Trump] and his ‘threats’ to ‘retaliate against prosecutors.'”

 

더 읽어보기: Alito의 '명백한 위반', 트럼프 사건에서 구속 영장: 사법 정책 전문가

 Alito’s ‘Unmistakable Breach’ Warrants Recusal in Trump Case: Judicial Policy Expert

 

Politico’s Kyle Cheney observed, “The reality of Trump’s long-delayed sentence means he will have to fight the appeal while in office, a dynamic his lawyers argued would be a distraction on the presidency. But an appeal is also his only chance to erase the ‘felon’ label, and he seems eager to begin that process.”

“NOW you can call him a convicted felon,” remarked NBC News Justice and Intelligence Correspondent Ken Dilanian.

 

Some critics, including legal experts, are expressing disappointment and frustration.

“Donald Trump sentenced to a complete and total victory over the justice system,” civil rights lawyer Matthew Segal, the co-director of the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, wrote from his personal social media account.

 

“Trump, escaping all punishment for dozens of felonies, says he’s been treated ‘very unfairly,'” observed Talking Points Memo founder Josh Marshall.

“45, 47, Felon,” remarked former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade, an MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst.

SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah, a lawyer, lamented the outcome: “No where can you find a person convicted of 34 felonies who is sentenced to no penalties. Period,” he wrote.

“Trump should not be heading to the White House. He should be reporting to prison,” he added.

Obeidallah also predicted that “Trump will 100% commit more crimes in the next few years. How do I know that? Simple, because Trump knows he will never be held accountable.”

 

Former TIME magazine managing editor Richard Stengel, who served as an Under Secretary of State for President Barack Obama, commented: “I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to live in a country where no person—not a president-elect, not a president—is above the law.”

 

MSNBC/NBC News legal correspondent Lisa Rubin notes that “now that the sentencing is over, the gloves could come off. Why? Merchan has no more leverage over Trump. The sentencing is over, and so, according to a June 2024 order, is the gag order Trump constantly complains about and frequently distorts. That order expressly expires with ‘the imposition of sentence.'”

 

관련 기사:

・'Treason': Trump may have committed a 'massive crime' in call to foreign leader

・Spokesperson for Trump — a convicted felon — says criminals should 'spend time behind bars'

・'Appalled': Cops attacked on J6 slam likely police union endorsement of 'convicted felon' Trump