Quotes
Given that Trump is not going to be sent to Rikers Island by a Manhattan judge in any event, it would be prudent to postpone the sentence and allow Trump to pursue his immunity appeal. That would avoid the unseemliness of subjecting the next president of the United States to a criminal conviction and sentence when he is about to take office,
he continued
Lawfare was terrible for the country. The resounding win Americans have given Trump should be its death knell,
McCarthy added later in his pieceBy dismissing the charges, that just puts the ball back in Alvin Bragg's court. If Alvin Bragg wants to double down on stupid, which he's done a lot, he can [reopen the case]. But he's not going to get anywhere with that, because by then, the president will have assumed office. And the Justice Department will move under the supremacy clause that you cannot bring your case, your criminal case, against a sitting president while he's the president,
he continuedUnderstand, Trump is not going to prison even if Merchan metes out an incarceration sentence. Though the charges are felonies, they are not sufficiently serious under New York law to merit immediate detention; Trump will get bail pending appeal,
he wroteFor all intents and purposes, no matter what happens if [Merchan] denies it, and the appeals court … follow the judge, and then the judge gets to sentence him. Even then the Justice Department will come in and say, ‘Look, under the Supremacy Clause, you cannot impose a criminal sentence, especially one of incarceration on a sitting president.’ And so that case will be on ice until after Trump gets out of office. But as a practical matter, this case and the Fanni Willis case are over,
he saidI would not be surprised if in the next two or three days, the government moves to dismiss,
a source close to Trump's defense told DailyMail.com
The simplest thing would be for New York to keep the sentencing as is, and for Alvin Bragg to go in and say we think that a felony conviction is sufficient and therefore we’re asking for a conditional discharge,
he saidPolitically, I think they would rather have the new Trump administration’s fingerprints on the demise of the cases,
he told the Reuters news agency
Will there be any political appetite by the end of the second Trump administration to try him in Georgia? That’s a long time from the initial crimes,
he said in a postWhy on earth she wouldn't object to the mention of a condom, I don't understand."
Speaking about Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles, Merchan noted in court
I was trying to think about anything other than what was happening there,
she told the juryThe hush money case needs to be stayed. If Judge Merchan tries to proceed with it, or even sets it for sentencing, the Department of Justice will intervene and ultimately the Supreme court will slap him down,
he saidThe cash money case is a state prosecution and it will continue,
he saidHowever, the judge may either delay sentencing until 2029 or impose a sentence now. If the sentence includes a period of incarceration, it will be delayed until 2029. If it is a fine, it will be stayed until Trump has exhausted his appeals,
he saidI don't think he will try. [New York County District Attorney] Alvin Bragg said early on he would comply with the Department of Justice's guidance, which forbids indicting, continuing with the prosecution, or jailing a sitting president, or otherwise interfering with the president's functions,
he saidAnything that would interfere with his ability to serve as president would actually be unconstitutional and in violation of the supremacy clause,
Agnifilo told the Washington Examiner
The purpose of these cases was lawfare, right?"
Blackman told the Washington ExaminerI'm guessing we'll run to Merchan with a motion to stay later this week,
the source saidWe have never really seen before criminal cases that played out more on the political stage than in the courtroom,
said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice
Merchan doesn't have the stomach to imprison a former president or president-elect,
former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the New York Post