What a suitably ludicrous end to Alvin Bragg’s ludicrous New York prosecution of Donald Trump. Ten days from being inaugurated as the 47th President, Mr. Trump on Friday morning was forced to call into a virtual hearing to be sentenced to no punishment as a convicted felon.
Zero, nada, zilch. “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,” Judge Juan Merchan told Mr. Trump. “Sir, I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office.” This isn’t what Mr. Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, had in mind two years ago when he indicted Mr. Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Despite gaping holes in what was a concocted case, a jury found Mr. Trump guilty last May. But sentencing was put on hold for the election, after an earlier delay to consider the U.S. Supreme Court’s summer ruling (in a different case) on presidential immunity. Then Mr. Trump won the election, putting the conviction in an awkward spot. New York can’t lock up a sitting President or put him on probation. So how to make the case go away?
Mr. Trump wanted a full dismissal. Judge Merchan refused, saying last week that precedent “does not provide that an individual, upon becoming President, can retroactively dismiss or vacate prior criminal acts nor does it grant blanket Presidential-elect immunity.” The judge was always going to be reluctant to disturb the jury’s unanimous verdict.
Mr. Bragg, even after the election, remained bloody-minded. One idea was to hold sentencing in abeyance until Mr. Trump leaves office, meaning in 2029 he might go from the White House to the big house. Another suggestion by the DA, as Judge Merchan put it, was to “preserve the jury verdict while terminating the proceedings.” The judge refused this, saying it “would deny Defendant the pathway he needs to exhaust his appellate rights.”
