Trump to Appear for Sentencing in Hush Money Case Ten Days before Inauguration, Judge Merchan Rules

President-elect Donald Trump has been ordered to appear for sentencing on January 10 in the New York hush money case, Manhattan judge Juan Merchan ruled on Friday. The sentencing date comes ten days before Trump is set to be inaugurated as president for the second time.

Merchan denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case entirely, rejecting the defense’s argument that his reelection victory in November warrants a dismissal of the guilty verdict. While retaining the jury’s verdict, the judge signaled he won’t impose jail time or any legal penalties on the incoming president at his sentencing next Friday. Trump was the first former president to face a conviction on criminal charges.

In his highly anticipated decision, the judge said it was in the public’s best interest to bring the case to a close before Inauguration Day on January 20.

“Finding no legal impediment to sentencing and recognizing that Presidential immunity will likely attach once Defendant takes his Oath of Office, it is incumbent upon this Court to set this matter down for the imposition of sentence prior to January 20, 2025,” Merchan wrote.

“It is this Court’s firm belief that only by bringing finality to this matter will all three interests be served.”

Trump may appear for sentencing either in-person or virtually, the judge said.

Last May, the Republican was found guilty on 34 counts for falsifying business records related to his efforts to silence adult actress Stormy Daniels with hush money. The payment was made in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign to cover up his alleged sexual affair with the porn star ten years earlier.

Trump maintained his innocence and said Daniels’s story was false.

Trump’s defense attorneys argued Merchan’s failure to toss the verdict would pose unconstitutional “disruptions” to the president-elect’s preparation for a second term.

Prosecutors insisted the conviction should stand, though they did stipulate that an accommodation should be made for the incoming president given the case’s unprecedented nature.

The defense also argued that Merchan should have thrown out the verdict based on last year’s Supreme Court decision that granted Trump absolute immunity for “official acts” committed while in office. They claimed the trial was irreparably “tainted” by juror misconduct and evidence related to Trump’s first term.

Prosecutors contended that the Supreme Court’s ruling should not apply to this case because Trump’s alleged hush money payment does not constitute a president’s official acts in office.

Merchan postponed the sentencing twice due to Trump’s presidential immunity. The high-profile defendant was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July until that was pushed back to November after the election.

Trump’s lawyers have previously indicated they would appeal any order that sentences him prior to his inauguration later this month.

Following Friday’s order, a Trump spokesman blasted Merchan for scheduling the sentencing a little over a week before the president-elect is sworn into office.

“President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts,” Trump communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement. “There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.”