On January 10, 2025 President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced in New York by Judge Merchan, with no-sentence, being convicted of representing “legal fees as legal fees” in the Stormy Daniel’s “hush-money” trial.  During the trial the defense was not allowed to present exonerating evidence and Trump was hit with an unprecedented gag order [4, 1, 2]

The whole intent to rush the proceedings before his inauguration on January 20, 2025, was to brand Former President Donald Trump and now President-elect Donald Trump as a felon, and being the first president to take office with a felony conviction on his record. [3]

“A New York appellate court judge just upheld Trump’s January 10 sentencing date set by Judge Juan Merchan in the business records case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in 2023. Merchan, a Democratic donor and father to the owner of a very lucrative Democratic consulting firm, is desperate to turn Trump into a convicted felon upon sentencing before he enters the White House.” writes Julie Kelly

The case has yet to be appealed.  But the intended damage has been done.