CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday that the possibility that President-elect Donald Trump will actually be sentenced remains up in the air.
A jury found Trump guilty of 13 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed the two had an affair in 2006. . Judge Juan Machan, who is overseeing the hush money case, said: A sentencing date was set for Nov. 26, but Honig said the sentence could be lifted if President Trump wins the election.
“I think it’s 50-50 whether it will happen or not,” Honig said. “As Paula Reid and others have reported, the Trump campaign has argued that sentencing should not move forward because Donald Trump is the president-elect. If it moves forward… , there is a 50-50 chance that Judge Marchand will impose a prison sentence rather than probation, but even if the judge were to hand down this sentence on November 26th, and even if the judge had said: I hereby sentence you to X. [time] Donald Trump is not going to serve time during a transition period, as he is now, or certainly while he is president. In that case, I think it would be just a formality or a ritual. ”
Honig said Marchan could file a “bail suspension appeal,” which would not require Trump to serve any jail time or jail time until all the appeals court decisions are made. Legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Wednesday that the president cannot serve prison time during his term because the state cannot “interfere with the president’s ability to carry out his duties,” and therefore his He said the possibility of that was gone. (Related: Former Attorney General Bill Barr asks Biden Justice Department to drop charges against Trump to ensure the ‘best interests’ of the American people)
Smith is currently in talks with the Department of Justice (DOJ) about dropping the case after President Trump said he would fire the special counsel “within two seconds.” Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in two separate legal cases. The first charge charged him with illegally storing more than 30 classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home, and the second charge charged him with participating in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the January 2020 election. 6th, 2021.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed a lawsuit against Trump in August 2023 under Georgia’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) law for allegedly trying to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. He was charged with 18 crimes. In June, the Georgia Court of Appeals put the case on hold over a pending case to determine whether to disqualify Willis over his alleged undisclosed affair with special counsel Nathan Wade.
Democrats, including Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James, have threatened to “resist” Trump’s inauguration as president-elect and said Wednesday they will continue to push back against the law even though Trump is in the Oval Office. He said he would continue to file an objection. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and “never Trumper” Bill Kristol called for resistance to Trump’s victory.
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