An audio clip of President-elect Donald Trump’s response to Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan ahead of his sentencing earlier Friday for his 34-count felony ‘hush money’ conviction has been released online, “giving insight into the unprecedented conviction against a former president where Trump was ultimately sentenced to an unconditional discharge,” a report said.
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump, who virtually attended the criminal trial sentencing hearing, told the New York City courtroom on Friday morning, Fox News reported. “I think it’s been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system.” He added: “This is a case that Alvin Bragg did not want to bring. He thought it was, from what I read and from what I hear, inappropriately handled before he got there. And a gentleman from a law firm came in and acted as a district attorney. And that gentleman, from what I heard, was a criminal or almost criminal in what he did. It was very inappropriate. It was somebody involved with my political opponent.” He noted further: “I think it’s an embarrassment to New York and New York has a lot of problems, but this is a great embarrassment.”
At one point, Trump, appearing virtually, leaned forward to address Judge Juan Merchan and referenced the November election, suggesting it served as a rebuke of the case against him, Fox reported. “It’s been a political witch hunt,” Trump explained. “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.”
LISTEN:
Full audio of Trump speaking out against the injustice system and weaponization of government.
He calls the hoax trial an “embarrassment to New York.”
Trump has been an inspiration to all wrongly prosecuted Americans.
That helped him win the election.pic.twitter.com/QHJdWuoRGM
— Paul A. Szypula ?? (@Bubblebathgirl) January 10, 2025
Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass stated that there was “overwhelming evidence to support the jury’s verdict” and was critical of Trump, claiming the president-elect “has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm’s way” with the comments he publicly made during the trial, Fox said.
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said in response to the prosecution: “I very, very much disagree with much of what the government just said about this case, about the legitimacy of what happened in this courtroom during the trial and about President Trump’s conduct fighting this case from before it was indicted, while it was indicted, to the jury’s verdict, and even to this day.”
During the hearing, Merchan defended every action he took during the case. “The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make,” Merchan said at one point, noting the court “must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.” He reflected on the case, saying, “Never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances.” The judge said it was an “extraordinary case” with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself “was not any more unique or extraordinary” than any other case.
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