Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ sentencing is scheduled for January 10

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Donald Trump was ordered to appear for sentencing on January 10 in the New York “secret money” criminal case, just days before his second term in the White House.

Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s argument that the criminal case should be set aside after the US Supreme Court ruling that recognized broad immunity for presidents for their official actions.

Merchan wrote on Friday that the ruling should occur before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

But he said he was not inclined to imprison the president-elect who was He was convicted last year In New York state court, he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors alleged was a scheme to buy the silence of a porn actor with whom he was having an affair.

“While this court, as a matter of law, must not make any decision on sentence before giving the parties and the defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems appropriate at this stage to state the court’s inclination not to impose any prison sentence,” Merchan wrote. The punishment authorized by conviction, but the people acknowledged that they no longer viewed it as a practical recommendation.”

This is a developing story