An attorney for former President Donald Trump said his client should not be sentenced to prison after he was convicted Thursday for falsifying business records.
“There’s a system in place where you rely on precedent, and somebody like President Trump should never, never face a jail sentence based on this conduct,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche told CNN after the verdict was handed down. He was responing to a question on whether he believes Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would seek a jail term.
The attorney added that while some people would disagree with his assertion, he noted that President Trump, 77, would be considered a first-time offender.
“Other 77-year-old, first-time offenders would never be sent to prison for this conduct,” Mr. Blanche, the lead attorney in the case, stressed to the outlet.
When speaking to reporters Thursday, Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, declined to say whether his office would seek a prison term for President Trump. The judge overseeing the trial, Juan Merchan, set a sentencing date for July 11.
Another lawyer for the former president, meanwhile, has indicated that the former president will appeal the conviction.
The Trump attorney was then asked about whether Judge Merchan was fair to the former president. In response, he said that there were some rulings that he disagreed with and others that were consistent with state law.
“I think there were times when we very much disagreed with what decisions Judge Merchan made,” Mr. Blanche said. “I think there were times when we certainly appreciated that he was making decisions, but you know, weighing both sides and making decisions based on that, but at the end of the day, there were key decisions made before the trial started and during the trial, that I don’t want to use a fair or unfair but that we think were not consistent with the law.”
The charge of falsifying business records that President Trump was convicted of is a Class E felony in New York, the lowest tier of felony charges in the state. It is punishable by up to four years in prison, though the punishment would ultimately be up to the judge, and there’s no guarantee he would give the former president time behind bars.
It’s unclear to what extent the judge may factor in the political and logistical complexities of jailing a former president who is running to reclaim the White House. Other punishments could include a fine or probation. And it’s possible the judge would allow President Trump to avoid serving any punishment until after he exhausts his appeals.
The former commander-in-chief faces the threat of more serious prison time in the three other cases he’s facing, but those cases have gotten bogged down by appeals and other legal fights, so it remains unclear whether any of them will go to trial before the November election.
However, the New York conviction does not prevent the former president from campaigning for the 2024 election, and it does not prevent him from being elected president. He can still vote in his home state of Florida as long as he stays out of jail in New York.
Four days after his sentencing date in New York, the Republican National Convention will begin, ostensibly starting the official nominating process for President Trump. The RNC’s rules do not include any specific provisions if its presumptive GOP nominee is convicted of a crime.
