'Anything but ordinary': Legal experts shred NY v. Trump as 'one of the worst' cases in history
Attorneys and legal experts railed against New York Judge Juan Merchan sentencing President-elect Donald Trump in the NY v. Trump case just days ahead of his inauguration as president, saying the case will be remembered as "one of the worst" cases in history.
"I'll tell you how it strikes me, when you look at cases throughout history, not just in the United States, but really all over the world, this will be remembered as one of the worst. This will be remembered as an absolute injustice from the beginning," Fox News host Mark Levin said after the sentencing.
Merchan sentenced Trump on Friday morning to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no punishment such as fines or jail time.
"This is the end of the politicalization of the justice system," said Fox News contributor Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney whom Trump named this week as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice in his upcoming administration.
"Trump's victory in the election basically, in my opinion, neutered this case. And the attempt to stain President Trump, to tarnish him with the scarlet felon, is going to be reversed just a matter of time. And I'm telling you this with 35 years of experience, this case should have never had been tried. It was done for one reason, to stop President Trump from becoming the 47th president. I want to be very clear, it failed."
Terrell added in his comments to Fox Digital that he is "salivating to get to the Department of Justice," where he will be "very involved in pursuing justice" surrounding the NY case and others brought against Trump.
"I'm going to be involved in stopping anti-semitism and to stop going after Catholic families, parents who go to a school board meeting, and the misuse, the abuse of using the legal system for political gain. So, I'm going be involved in any investigation, and I hope I'm working there 24/7 to uncover all this nonsense," he said, noting that documents and correspondence surrounding the Trump cases will be "exposed."
Merchan highlighted Friday ahead of sentencing that the court system handled Trump's case as it handles every other criminal case.
"After careful analysis, this court determined the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge," Merchan said Friday. "At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts."
Merchan added, "Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office."
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Fox News contributor and lawyer Trey Gowdy underscored on Friday that if Trump's case was handled the same as any other in New York, it shows "there are a lot of bad trials going on" in the state.
"Court time is precious. It is a precious resource. To waste this time on a case, where even the prosecution agrees you should not spend a minute. So if Juan Merchan says this case was not handled any differently, that just tells me there are lots of bad trials going on in New York," Gowdy said.
Legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley compared Merchan's remark that Trump's case was similar to any other in New York to Mary Shelley's "Dr. Frankenstein."
"Merchan appears to be making the case in his own defense and insisted that this case is no different from any other case in New York. It is a case being made long after the jury has left the courthouse. This is like Dr. Frankenstein telling his creature that he is just like any other man. Stitching together this case from a dead misdemeanor and declined federal charges is anything but ordinary," Turley said on X.
Trump addressed the court ahead of sentencing that the case was a "great embarrassment to the state of New York," while highlighting that voters "decisively" re-elected him to the White House in November.
Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn added on Friday that as she walked into the courtroom, she noticed widespread support for Trump on the streets.
"The only protesters, per se, who were here were Trump supporters. And even as I'm standing here right now, I'm looking into a square and I'm looking at people holding Trump flags, I'm looking at a person who has a sign that says, 'Enough is enough. We voted. We don't want this lawfare anymore.'"
During Trump's trial in the spring of last year, no cameras were permitted in the courtroom. For the sentencing, however, Merchan agreed to allow audio, which Urbahn found odd.
"It is noteworthy that during the trial, there was no audio. There were no cameras, but for this particular sentencing, Judge Merchan agreed to have audio. I can't help but think if it's because he wants the world to hear his voice sentence Donald Trump because we were not able to have that before," she said on Fox News.
Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for Jan. 10 earlier this month, and was swiftly met with repeated attempts to delay and block the sentencing. Merchan said ahead of the sentencing that he would likely not "impose any sentence of incarceration" on Trump, and instead hand down an "unconditional discharge."
Trump’s legal team filed an appeal to block sentencing from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. However, the court rejected his request. Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it "immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising questions of Presidential immunity, including in this Court if necessary."
"The Court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this stay application," Trump’s filing requested.
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The Supreme Court denied the request. Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that they would have granted Trump’s petition to postpone sentencing, while the order suggested Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson to deny Trump’s request.
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Trump has vowed to appeal the conviction, arguing that evidence in the case implicated his duties as president during his first term after the Supreme Court’s ruling in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts.
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"I will be appealing this case, and am confident that JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL. The pathetic, dying remnants of the Witch Hunts against me will not distract us as we unite and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after the Supreme Court’s order on Thursday.
"Every Legal Scholar stated, unequivocally, that this is a case that should never have been brought. There was no case against me. In other words, I am innocent of all of the Judge’s made up, fake charges. This was nothing other than Weaponization of our Justice System against a Political Opponent. It’s called Lawfare, and nothing like this has ever happened in the United States of America, and it should never be allowed to happen again. To this day, this highly political and corrupt Judge has put a gag order on me, which takes away my First Amendment right to speak about very important aspects of the case," his post added.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.
Fox News's Brooke Singman and David Spunt contributed to this report.