This morning, President-elect Donald Trump will be formally sentenced in a Manhattan court room for his nearly three dozen felony convictions related to his falsifying of business records to cover up hush money payments made to a porn star.
What a sentence! What a world!
I have two major thoughts on all of this:
First, this is history. While Trump was convicted last year, he isn’t formally a felon until today’s sentencing hearing. And once he is formally a felon, Trump goes into the history books as the first former — and future — president to be a convicted felon.
Which is something. And it’s not something that a President Trump can pardon himself for since these are state charges not federal one. It will embarrass him. And it will delight his many detractors.
My other thought is this: Today ends (or likely ends) the long-running series of Trump legal entanglements. And they end with a whimper not a bang.
Remember that in 2023, Trump faced FOUR indictments:
This one in Manhattan
Another state case in Georgia over his meddling in that state’s election in 2020
A federal case — brought by special counsel Jack Smith — over Trump’s actions in and around January 6, 2021
Another federal case (again, brought by Smith) centered on Trump’s retention of classified documents after he left the White House
The last two cases ended — effectively — the day Trump won the 2024 election. Smith is in the process of winding them both down. While there are calls for Smith to release the findings of his reports in both cases, I am skeptical that will happen. (I will note: Those pushing for release of the January 6 report by Smith got a favorable court ruling on Thursday.)
The Georgia case is an utter disaster for the prosecution. Right before Christmas, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that neither Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis nor her office can be involved in the case any longer — following the revelation that Willis had hired someone with whom she was romantically involved to serve as the special prosecutor in the proceedings.
While the court didn’t dismiss the case entirely and the DA’s office said they planned to appeal, it seems very unlikely to me that this case will ever see the light of day again.
Which means that Trump, largely, won. While it will drive him insane that he is in the history books forever as the first felon to be elected president, he will almost certainly never serve jail time or even pay a fine — or do ANY kind of restitution — for the myriad legal charges he faced.
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