Why For Just A Few Tense Minutes Donald Trump Was Not Above The Law

After President-elect Donald J. Trump was sentenced Friday morning, a clerk entered a Judgment of Conviction for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records into the New York State Universal Court Management System, (UCMS.)

That data was transmitted to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) , which had received his fingerprints following his arrest in April of 2023. An automatic system will now record the ultimate outcome of the case. And only then will he officially become a convicted felon, a presidential first.

The sentence was just a “conditional discharge,” carrying to jail time, fine or supervision, but it was enough for DCJS to record Trump as a felon and thereby challenge what his pre-sentencing probation report describes as a belief that he is “above the law.” Proof of the contrary—however modest—will remain unless he gets the verdict overturned in the future.

Trump got his small but clearly infuriating lesson in non-immunity just before 9:30 a.m.

Like it or not, no matter how close he was to becoming president again, he still had to sit down in front of a video camera for a virtual appearance at his long delayed sentencing for seeking to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, to cover up an alleged liaison that took place in 2006. He, of course, used two American flags for his Teams background.

His displeasure at being forced to submit was manifest on the four wall-mounted screens that made Room 1510 in Manhattan Supreme Court look improbably like a sports bar. The images also appeared on twin smaller screens on the defense and prosecution tables. One of his attorneys, Emil Bove, was sitting in the courtroom where he had been seated during the trial. The other, Todd Blanche, was sitting next to Trump in Florida. Both are marked for big jobs in the justice department, with Blanche nominated for deputy attorney general.

The two lawyers can expect to spend the next four years aggressively enforcing Trump’s notion of justice. They got their top spots in part by delaying his sentencing for month after month. And, right up until Thursday evening, it appeared Trump might escape being sentenced at all.

But one of Trump’s own appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court joined the chief justice and the liberals in a 5-4 decision that the sentencing should go ahead even if it was just 10 days from the inauguration. Had Justice Amy Coney Barrett gone the other way, it would have suggested the nation’s highest court would be unlikely to stop him from doing pretty much whatever he wanted for the next four years. Barrett offers some reason to hope that Trump will not end up being above the law.

The lead prosecutor, Assistant Manhattan DA Joshua Steinglass, and then defense attorney Blanche addressed the court. Trump then got his turn. He described himself as a victim of politically motivated “lawfare” who did nothing wrong.

“It’s an injustice of justice,” he said. “I was treated very, very unfairly.”

Then it came time for Judge Juan Merchan to impose the sentence. He did so with the quiet grace of someone who adheres to the law in letter and spirit.

“Mr. Trump, you appear before this court today to conclude this criminal proceeding by the imposition of sentence,” Merchan began.

He indicated that in other circumstances he would not have been so lenient.

“In my time on the bench, I’ve been called upon to grapple with this weighty responsibility for countless defendants who have been found guilty after trial for an assortment of offenses ranging from non-violent, Class E felonies to the most heinous of crimes, including homicides, sex trafficking and child sexual abuse. The task is always difficult and deserving of careful consideration, whether the sentence be an unconditional discharge or incarceration of 25 years to life. However, never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances.”

Merchan said that despite the intense public interest and security concerns, the court officers and clerks and other personnel had ensured the trial itself had proceeded much like the 32 other criminal cases in the building at that time

“Jury selection was conducted, the same rules of evidence were followed, opening statements were made, witnesses called and cross examined, evidence presented, summations delivered,” he noted. “The same burden of proof was applied, and a jury made up of ordinary citizens delivered a verdict, and it was all conducted pursuant to the rules of procedure and guided by the law. So… one can argue that the trial itself was, in many respects, somewhat ordinary.”

He went on, “The same cannot be said about the circumstances surrounding this sentencing, and that is because of the office you once occupied and which you will soon occupy again.”

The judge indicated that he is not inclined to just shrug away multiple felonies.

“However, the considerable, indeed extraordinary legal protections afforded by the office of the chief executive is a factor that overrides all others,” he went on. “To be clear, the protections afforded the office of the president are not a mitigating factor. They do not reduce the seriousness, seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way. The protections are, however, a legal mandate, which, pursuant to the rule of law this court must respect and follow.”

He then added “despite the extraordinary breadth of those protections, one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict.”

A verdict required a sentence of some kind, but that brought Merchan back to the presidential protections.

“This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment of conviction without encroaching upon the highest office in the land, is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan concluded. “Therefore at this time I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts.”

That meant Trump’s conviction would now be officially recorded via the automated DCJS whether or not he considers himself above the law.

Merchan ended by addressing Trump the convicted felon as Trump the president who will be leading the nation the next four years.

“Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office,” Merchan said. “Thank you.”