--- title: Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment | TIME description: President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction but frees him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. canonical: https://time.com/video/JGtqoZYC/ og:title: Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment og:description: President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction but frees him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. og:url: https://time.com/video/JGtqoZYC/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JGtqoZYC/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment twitter:description: President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction but frees him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JGtqoZYC/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * U.S. # Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment [Watch (HLS stream): Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JGtqoZYC.m3u8) (4:01)  _Published 2025-01-10. President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction but frees him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine._ --- Jan 10, 2025 9:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Judge Delays Ruling on Whether to Scrap Trump’s Conviction in Hush-Money Case](/video/oBC60dMz/) ### Judge Delays Ruling on Whether to Scrap Trump’s Conviction in Hush-Money Case [Watch Biden React to Trump Blaming Him For Hush-Money Trial Conviction](/video/SxCh73JD/) ### Watch Biden React to Trump Blaming Him For Hush-Money Trial Conviction [Donald Trump Convicted in Historic New York Hush-Money Trial](/video/Azy0GwKE/) ### Donald Trump Convicted in Historic New York Hush-Money Trial --- ## Transcript Donald Trump, you are before the Court for sentence, all on your conviction by trial to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 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, which the New York State Legislature has determined is a lawful and permissible sentence for the crime of falsifying business records in the first degree. Therefore, at this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts. Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office. Thank you. This has been a very terrible experience. I think it's been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system. It's been a political witch hunt. It was done to damage my reputation so that I'd lose the election. And obviously, that didn't work. And the people of our country got to see this firsthand because they watched the case in your courtroom. They got to see this firsthand, and then they voted, and I won and got the largest number of votes by far, of any Republican candidate in history. And this has been a weaponization of government. They call it lawfare. Never happened to any extent like this, but never happened in our country before. Instead of preserving, protecting and defending our constitutionally established system of criminal justice, the defendant, the once and future president of the United States, has engaged in a coordinated campaign to undermine its legitimacy. Far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct, the defendant has purposefully bred disdain for our judicial institutions and the rule of law. Put simply, this defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm's way. A lot of what the government just said presupposes that this case is legally appropriate. And that the charges that were brought by the people were consistent with the laws of New York. Again, we very much disagree with that and as everybody has been noted, because it's true, we certainly intend on appealing that. Never before has this Court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances? Indeed, it can be viewed fairly but this has been a truly extraordinary case. There was unprecedented media attention, public interest, and heightened security involving various agencies. And yet, the trial was a bit of a paradox because once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself was no more special, unique, or extraordinary than the other 32 criminal trials that took place in this courthouse at the same exact time. However, the considerable, indeed, extraordinary legal protections afforded by the Office of the chief executive is a factor that overrides all others. To be clear, the protections afforded the office of the president are not a mitigating factor. They do not reduce the 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. However, despite the extraordinary breath of those protections, one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict. It is clear from legal precedent, which until July 1 was scarce, that Donald Trump, the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Judge Sentences Trump in Hush-Money Case But Declines to Impose Any Punishment","description":"President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction but frees him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. 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