Former President Trump is on a mission to become president once again. There’s one issue in his way.
And now Donald Trump has been given utterly groundbreaking news from lawyers about going to jail.
In a recent segment on MSNBC, legal analyst Catherine Christian suggested that former President Donald Trump is unlikely to face prison time when he appears for sentencing before New York Judge Juan Merchan. The scheduled sentencing, related to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, has been deferred to September 18, following a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Christian explained to MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell that Trump’s position as the presumptive Republican nominee for the upcoming presidential election is expected to influence Judge Merchan’s decision. She stated, “I think it’s highly unlikely that Judge Merchan in September is going to put the leading candidate for one party for president in jail.”
She clarified that while Merchan could technically impose a jail sentence, it would be defined as a misdemeanor with a maximum duration of one year, likely served at Riker’s Island. In contrast, a prison sentence, which would be a year or more, could extend up to four years but remains improbable.
Highlighting the range of sentencing options available to Merchan, Christian noted, “He can get probation, he can give additional discharge, he can give a fine. He has a number of options he can do; I do not think one of them will be incarceration.”
MSNBC Legal Analyst Says It's 'Highly Unlikely' Judge Will Sentence Trump To Jail So Close To Election pic.twitter.com/RNYeDytobh
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 3, 2024
Judge Merchan has faced criticism from Trump supporters and some legal experts over perceived bias in his handling of the case. This scrutiny intensified after Merchan imposed an expanded gag order on April 1, following Trump’s criticism of the judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, on social media. Trump had shared a New York Post article alleging that Loren’s firm aided Democrats in raising over $93 million following Trump’s indictment.
Further controversy arose with revelations of Merchan’s past political donations. Federal Election Commission records show that Merchan contributed $15 to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020, along with smaller donations to groups like “Stop Republicans” and the “Progressive Turnout Project,” all made through the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.
Donald Trump’s Legal Woes & The 2024 Election
Donald Trump has been certainly enjoying a campaign that is swimming along just fine while his suspected opponent (for now, that is), Joe Biden, is going down in flames as his campaign is panicking after the horrible debate showing he had. This has all been great optics for Donald Trump and company.
Most political experts agree that, unless something dramatic happens, Donald Trump would wipe the floor with Joe Biden in the general election this November. The surveys and polls all suggest that Trump is likely to carry almost all of the swing states.
The key there is “unless something dramatic happens.” There are a few scenarios that could present themselves to derail Donald Trump and prevent him from getting his second term in office.
Firstly, a Democrat challenger could step in for Joe Biden and perform better than expected against Donald Trump. That’s a wild card that’s hard to predict, though. No one knows what is going to happen on that front, not even high profile Democrat Party officials.
Secondly, Donald Trump could be seen behind bars, which could absolutely change the optics in the opinion of the American public. This might be the more likely scenario that Donald Trump and his allies need to look out for.
The sentencing hearing was originally set for July 11, but has now been moved to September 18, as the court says that the July date was far too soon for Merchan to hear and consider all of the arguments for and against certain sentencing outcomes.
Some are suggesting that this signals that Merchan is actually sympathetic to Donald Trump’s cause overall, and that he wouldn’t give Trump a jail sentence right before a critical election in which Trump is the leading presidential candidate.
BREAKING: Crooked Judge Juan Merchan has vacated Trump's July 11th sentencing date and set a new sentencing date for September 18th. This signals that Merchan knows the conviction is totally BUST and Trump will win based on Presidential immunity pic.twitter.com/o5oxKd4QMo
— George (@BehizyTweets) July 2, 2024
One thing is for certain, if that did happen, it would cause chaos unlike anyone could imagine.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
