President-elect Donald Trump responds to unconditional discharge sentence for hush money case

President-elect Donald Trump has vented his outrage over his sentencing in a New York hush money case, calling it a “despicable charade”.

The Republican was found guilty of 34 counts in May 2024 regarding the falsification of business records ahead of the 2016 election.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan handed down the guilty verdict over money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter with Mr Trump, something he continues to deny.

Mr Trump appeared via video link as an “unconditional discharge” sentence was given by Judge Merchan, meaning the president-elect escaped jail time and fines.

The felony, considered a Class E offence in the US, could have seen Mr Trump imprisoned for four years, as well as being handed thousands in fines for each individual count.

After the sentencing, Mr Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to pan what he called an “illegal and fake” case.

“The radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican (sic) witch hunt,” Mr Trump wrote.

“After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over six years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless weaponisation, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th president, me, I was given an unconditional discharge.

“That result alone proves that, as all legal scholars and experts have said, there is no case, there was never a case, and this whole scam fully deserves to be dismissed.

“The real jury, the American people, have spoken, by re-electing me with an overwhelming mandate in one of the most consequential elections in history.

“As the American people have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no law, only a highly conflicted judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal election interference.

“Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great system of justice.

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Mr Trump concluded.

Mr Trump is set for inauguration on January 20 after defeating Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 US election.

The Republican won a second term in office, receiving 312 electoral college votes, far exceeding the required 270 to win. Ms Harris won 225 electoral college votes.

The two were closer when it came to the popular vote, a system that counts total individual votes, with Mr Trump securing over 77 million and Ms Harris receiving 75 million.