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In about two weeks, Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as US President for the second time. But a New York judge now surprisingly wants to announce a punishment against him beforehand.
Ten days before the planned swearing-in of Donald Trump next week, the sentence in the hush money trial against the designated US president is to be announced surprisingly. Judge Juan Merchan set the date, which had already been postponed several times, for January 10, according to court documents. Trump is to be sworn in as US president on January 20.
Trump could appear at the court hearing “in person or virtually,” the document states. The judge writes in it that he is not inclined to impose a prison sentence – which was not considered very likely anyway. The US president-elect had previously failed in his attempt to overturn the sentence imposed against him in New York for concealing hush money payments. The judge in charge, Merchan, had upheld the guilty verdict against the Republican.
Judge: Payments before Trump’s time as president
Trump’s lawyers had argued that US presidents enjoy broad immunity for acts committed in office under a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States. However, Judge Merchan explained that this decision did not apply in the present case because the disputed hush money payments to a porn actress were made before Trump’s first presidency from 2017 to 2021. In addition, the actions were private.
The trial concerned the illegal concealment of $130,000 in hush money that Trump paid to a porn actress – the court was convinced that this was done with the aim of gaining advantages in the 2016 election campaign. Jurors in New York found Trump guilty of 34 counts at the end of May. It was the first time in the history of the United States that a former president was convicted of a crime.
The sentence was originally supposed to be announced in mid-September. But then Judge Merchan granted Trump’s request to wait until after the presidential election to announce the sentence . A sentence has never been announced for a president-elect in the history of the USA.
Apple News / NIKKEI / AP
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