Incoming US President, Donald Trump, has been given an ‘unconditional discharge’ by a New York court.
Justice Juan Merchan, who was the sitting judge on the case, sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge for all 34 charges meaning he will pay no fine and serve no prison sentence.
The charges related to felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Last May, Trump was found guilty of falsifying New York business records in order to conceal his illegal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election.
Trump had maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings describing the case as a “political witch hunt”.
Appearing via video link before the court, he said. “The fact is, I’m totally innocent,”
Reacting to the verdict, the US president elect accused the “Radical Democrats” of running “another pathetic , un-American Witch Hunt” which he said they have now “lost”.
“After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE.” he said.
Trump continued that the result “ THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED.”
“The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History.” he said.
“As the American People have seen, this “case” had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference.”
He called the events in the court a “despicable charade”, adding “and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice.”
“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” he concluded.
At the time of his conviction, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “Donald Trump is guilty of repeatedly and fraudulently falsifying business records in a scheme to conceal damaging information from American voters during the 2016 presidential election.”
“Over the course of the past several weeks, a jury of 12 every day New Yorkers was presented with overwhelming evidence – including invoices, checks, bank statements, audio recordings, phone logs, text messages, and direct testimony from 22 witnesses – that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Trump illegally falsified 34 New York business records.”
“Mr. Trump went to illegal lengths to lie repeatedly in order to protect himself and his campaign. In Manhattan, we follow the facts without fear or favor and have a solemn responsibility to ensure equal justice under the law regardless of the background, wealth or power of the accused. The integrity of our judicial system depends on upholding that principle,” he said.