Donald Trump dodges jail with ‘unconditional discharge’ for felony convictions
Washington DC/IBNS: Donald Trump Friday became the first President-elect to be charged with felonies after a US court upheld his conviction in a hush-money case.
He has been sentenced to an 'unconditional discharge' for covering up unaccounted payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The US court found him guilty of his charges but Trump will not face any jail time or penalty as he has been elected President of the United States and will take oath to the country's highest office on January 20.
The post of US president brings with itself an impunity of being above the law while in office and beyond.
Therefore, even though the 34 counts of Donald Trump falsifying business records on which he was convicted in May 2024 have potential imprisonment as punishment, the judge could do little about it.
The court had to spare the President-elect.
Should he not have been the president, Donald Trump would have been jailed for a term of four years. Instead, he will now return to the White House as President for a term of four years.
Trump did not even attend the session of court in person, choosing to do so virtually, being aware that he would not be sent to jail even if found guilty of all charges.
"This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgement of conviction without encroaching on the highest office of the land, is an unconditional discharge," New York judge Juan Merchan was quoted as saying by media while delivering the sentence.
"Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances."
With the constitution protecting the highest office in the United States, there was no other option for the judge than to give an "unconditional discharge" to the former president.
Any other judgement risked encroaching the Presidential immunity that is accorded to the country's highest post by the US Constitution.
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