Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that Trump “should never, never face a jail sentence” for the conduct he was convicted of earlier in the day.
On Thursday, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial.
TRUMP GUILTY IN MANHATTAN HUSH MONEY CASE
In a conversation with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Blanche noted that a jail sentence would be atypical for a case of this nature.
“There’s a system in place that relies on precedent, and someone like President Trump should never, never face a jail sentence based on this conduct,” Blanche said. “It would just kind of confirm what we’ve been saying all along. A lot of people claim we’re wrong and that we’re missing key pieces. However, other 77-year-old, first-time offenders would never be sent to prison for this conduct.”
The presiding judge, Judge Juan Merchan, announced that sentencing would be on July 11 at 10 a.m., following the jury’s verdict. It remains uncertain how severe the sentence will be; however, Merchan has previously indicated reluctance to incarcerate the former president. After Trump violated a gag order for the tenth time, the judge threatened jail time for contempt but also stated, “Mr. Trump, it’s important to understand that the last thing I want to do is to put you in jail.”
Merchan has expressed concerns about the safety of those who would have to protect Trump, including Secret Service agents, if he were jailed.
In this case, Trump was found guilty of reimbursing Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels, a porn star and director, to conceal a 2006 affair. Though Trump has other ongoing cases, this is the first conviction for him.
Blanche also addressed why Trump did not testify, despite previous indications that he would.
“That’s a very personal question, to him and to me, honestly, and it’s difficult,” Blanche said. “Of course, he wanted to testify. He wanted to tell his story. However, the judge made some decisions before and on the day the trial started regarding what prosecutors could ask him if he took the stand. Some of those questions were really complicated to answer.”
Ultimately, Blanche said, it was Trump’s decision not to testify, a decision he reached after considering legal counsel’s advice.
