President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge by Judge Juan Merchan on Friday, officially cementing his status as a felon without handing down any other punishment days before he is sworn into office for his second term.
The president-elect appeared virtually from his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate for the New York sentencing hearing and visibly shook his head as Merchan went over the conviction, The New York Times reported. During the hearing, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass argued that Trump has “disdain” for the rule of law but said that the prosecution agrees with the sentence of unconditional discharge.
Trump also spoke during the hearing, marking the first time he has addressed the court during the trial.
“This has been a very terrible experience. I think it’s been a tremendous setback” for New York, he said, according to the Times. The president-elect…
