The President-Elect Is a Felon, but His Sentence Carries No Penalty

The New York Times ^ | Jan. 10, 2025Updated 6:14 p.m. ET | Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and Kate Christobek

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Arms crossed, scowl set, President-elect Donald J. Trump avoided jail, but became a felon.

Mr. Trump appeared virtually at his criminal sentencing on Friday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, more than 1,000 miles away from the chilly Manhattan courtroom where his case was called for a final time. Projected on a 60-inch screen, his image loomed over the gallery as a prosecutor recounted his crimes and a judge imposed his sentence.

Mr. Trump once faced up to four years in prison for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, but on Friday, he received only a so-called unconditional discharge. The sentence, a rare and lenient alternative to jail or probation, reflected the practical and constitutional impossibility of jailing a president-elect.

It nonetheless carried symbolic significance, capping a yearslong ordeal that consumed Mr. Trump as a weary nation reckoned with the prospect of a criminal president. Once the sentencing concluded, it cemented his status as the first felon to occupy the Oval Office.

“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” said the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, who has felt the brunt of Mr. Trump’s rage over the case the past two years. “This has been a truly extraordinary case.”

It was also “a bit of a paradox,” he said, as the somber ritual of sentencing testified to both the supremacy and limits of presidential power.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

No matter how much you hate these people, you do not hate them enough.

[Alas Babylon!]

Ha, so was Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Mahattma Ghandi.

[LittleBillyInfidel]

Los Angeles in ashes due to neglect, yet Trump’s “memo” is the felony of the century to the NY Times.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“It nonetheless carried symbolic significance...”

Only in the fevered liberal progressive mind. The rest of us know what it is all about and do not give one sh!t.

The progressive project to utterly destroy the USA continues apace.

[stanne]

What’s this supposed felony?

[rdcbn1]

Judge Juan Merchan sentenced President Donald J Trump to a four year stay in the White House. Now he is working on digging his own grave. Professionally speaking, of course.

[Political Junkie Too]

Mr. Trump once faced up to four years in prison for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal

Wrong. Those were potential misdemeanors (if President Trump were guilty of them) that were past their statute of limitations.

President Trump was charged with furthering another crime. We still don't know what that other crime was, and neither did the jury that convicted him of it.

-PJ

[aimhigh]

The biggest loss for Trump is now the inability to conceal carry. Not that he needs to with all the security. But that security has been found to be lacking at times.

[ComputerGuy]

...Projected on a 60-inch screen, his image loomed over the gallery...

[decal]

If a conviction falls down in a forest and there’s no sentence, does it make a sound?

[cdcdawg]

Protess, Bromwich, and Christobek

Sounds like a law firm.

[rktman]

They’ll use “convicted felon” anytime they can: “President Trump, a convicted felon, signed executive orders today.”

[decal]

They’ll change the name of the tune to “Hail to the Convicted Felon.”

[kiryandil]

“Never before has this court clown been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” said the kangaroo trial judge clown, Wetback Cur Merchan

fixed

[dayglored]

> Ha, so was Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Mahattma Ghandi.

And all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

[eclectic]

Don’t forget Jesus Christ

[eclectic]

Here is hoping the corrupt judge will get a real penalty.

[Steve_Seattle]

It took three NYT geniuses to string together this POS article with all of its faux gravitas. Trump "scowled"!!! OMG!!! He's a FELON!!! A FELON!!!!!! A FELON!!!!!!!!!

His horrific crime? Making accounting entries for payments to a lawyer and calling them legal expenses!!! But he didn't specify the purpose of the payments!!! Sex scandal!!!!!!!!!!

[one guy in new jersey]

Enjoy it while it lasts, holier-than-thou, high-horse-mounted, NYT!