President-elect Donald Trump avoided jail time with an unconditional discharge sentence in the hush money case becoming the first felon to serve as President in US history.
Judge Juan Merchan on Friday sentenced Trump acknowledging the case as “truly extraordinary” with a “unique and remarkable set of circumstances.”
“However the considerable, indeed extraordinary legal protections afforded the office of the chief executive that overrides all others,”
“They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way.”
“It is the citizenry of this nation that recently decided that you should once again receive the benefits of those protections.”
Trump repeated his belief that the case was a “political witch hunt” and “a very terrible experience.”
“It’s been a political witch hunt. It was done to damage my reputation so that I’d lose the election, but that didn’t work,” he said.
“The people of our country got to see this first hand because they watched the case in your courtroom. They got to see this first hand, and then they voted. And I won.”
