New York judge sets Trump’s sentence days before inauguration

President-elect Trump’s bid to overturn his conviction in his New York felony case was denied Friday.

New York Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump’s request to vacate the judgment in the case based on the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

The sentencing is set for January 10 at 9:30 a.m., where the president-elect has the option to appear in person or virtually. But Merchan said he will not sentence the president-elect to prison.

Merchan wrote in his decision that he is likely to “impose no prison sentence,” but rather an “unconditional discharge,” meaning no sentence would be imposed.

Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 15: Republican presidential candidate former US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign rally at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center on October 15, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. With early voting starting today in Georgia, both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris are campaigning in the Atlanta region this week as polls show a close race. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Merchan noted that he is still reviewing the other motions filed by Trump to dismiss the case.

He also rejected the DA’s suggestion that he uphold the conviction but end the case, as it would deny Trump’s right to appeal.

“Today’s order from deeply embattled acting Judge Merchan in the Manhattan DA witch hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and other long-standing case law,” Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “This lawless case should never have been filed, and the Constitution requires that it be dismissed immediately. President Trump must be allowed to continue the presidential transition process and carry out the vital duties of the presidency, unencumbered by the remnants of this, or any remnants of, the witch hunts.”

Cheung added: “There should be no sentencing and President Trump will continue to fight these scams until they are all dead.”

Last month, Merchan also denied Trump’s lawyers’ request to dismiss charges based on presidential immunity.

The ruling comes after President-elect Trump and his team in July Merchan asked to overturn his guilty verdict in New York against Trump, citing the US Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have immunity for official acts.

Merchan ruled that the evidence presented at trial related “entirely to unofficial conduct and therefore does not receive immunity protection.”

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the year-long investigation related to alleged hush money payments run by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance opened the investigation, and Bragg prosecuted Trump.

After an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City, a jury found the president guilty on all counts.

The United States Supreme Court held that a former president has substantive immunity for official acts committed while in office.

In the formal motion in July, Trump attorney Todd Blanche pointed to the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and argued that certain evidence of “official acts” should not have been admitted at trial.

Trump’s lawyers last month officially requested that charges against the president-elect be dismissed “immediately.” New York v. Trump, declaring that the “failed legal action” case “should never have been filed.”

TRUMP ASKS NY JUDGE TO REVERSE GUILTY CONVICTION, PROMISE AFTER SCOTUS IMMUNITY RULING

Trump’s lawyers said the case “would never have been filed if not for President Trump’s political views, the transformative national movement established under his leadership, and the political threat he poses to entrenched, corrupt politicians in Washington , DC and beyond.”

Trump’s lawyers said that “a wrongful continuance of this failed lawsuit disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts and his preparations to exercise the full Article II executive power authorized by the Constitution under the overwhelming national mandate given by the American people him on November 5, 2024.”

Bragg asked Judge Juan Merchan in November that the case be delayed until the end of Trump’s second term, but Trump’s lawyers noted that the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department concluded that “the categorical ban on the federal indictment for a meeting. president … even if the case were stayed … applies to this situation.”

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They added that Bragg’s “ludicrous suggestion that they could simply reopen the case after President Trump leaves office, more than a decade after they began their investigation in 2018, is not an option.”