Donald Trump deplores the injustice of facing no consequences

In today's newsletter, reporting on the president-elect's conviction. More:

Photograph by Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post / Bloomberg / Getty

Eric LachEditor

This morning I headed to cold Lower Manhattan to watch Donald Trump's criminal sentencing. As I walked alone in the post-dawn calm on Foley Square, where the boroughs' courthouses are clustered, I read the inscription above the entrance to the Supreme Court building of the New York State: The true administration of justice is the strongest pillar of good government. This is a line from one of George Washington's letters. Next door, in a courtroom on the fifteenth floor of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, that feeling was about to be put to an extreme and absurd test.

What is the appropriate punishment for a president who breaks the law? America was never quite sure. Last spring, when Trump sat through a weeklong trial in Judge Juan Mercans' courtroom, it almost seemed like the rules would finally apply to him. Yes, he was the presumptive Republican nominee for president, and, yes, the trial took place under extremely tight security restrictions, and, yes, Merchan gave Trump leeway to violently attack the court, prosecutors, witnesses and jury in a way that is not possible. generally tolerated by criminal defendants. But inside the courtroom, the proceedings continued. Testimony was heard, evidence was presented, a verdict was rendered: Guilty on all thirty-four counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, as part of a scheme to prevent damaging evidence not made public during his first presidential campaign. It was the unanimous decision of twelve of Trump's peers on May 30.

A lot has happened since then. The conviction in the secrecy case, which Merchan repeatedly postponed during the election period, was like unfinished business at a time when the true administration of justice was the strongest pillar of good government. It was always thought that this case was unlikely to end in prison time, or other serious consequences, for Trump. The November results assured this. Merchan was in a bind: How to resolve the case that had resulted in a guilty verdict without impinging on Trump's ability to be president? A potential solution presented itself in the idea of ​​an unconditional release, in which Trump's conviction would stand, but the case would sit there.

The hearing began at 9:30 a.m. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team of prosecutors were in the courtroom. Trump, courtesy of Mercans, appeared virtually, via Microsoft Teams. (Among other things, Trump's conviction may be remembered as the high point of this country's WFH era.) He sat next to his lawyer, Todd Blanche, whom he appointed to the post of deputy attorney general during his second term. Trump's face appeared on screens mounted on the walls of the courtroom.

Joshua Steinglass, assistant district attorney, spoke first. He criticized Trump, accusing him of breeding contempt for the rule of law and endangering those involved in the trial. This defendant caused lasting damage to the public's perception of the criminal justice system, Steinglass said. Yet, he acknowledged, the defendant was on the verge of becoming president. The prosecutor therefore requested an unconditional release.

Blanche came next. I completely disagree with much of what the government has just said about this matter, he said. He reiterated arguments made by Trump's defense team regarding the timing and motivations behind the case. He suggested that the votes of tens of millions of citizens should trump the verdict of twelve jurors. It was a sad day for Trump, Blanche said, and for the country. Nevertheless, he also asked Merchan to issue an unconditional release.

Then it was Trump's turn. As Blanche spoke, Trump frowned and looked off camera. Sometimes he would lean in and his face would become partially out of view, like a doddering grandpa on a family Zoom. During the trial he had not testified in his own defense, and in the courtroom he had remained virtually silent, except for occasional bursts of muttering or sighing, for which Merchan had summoned him. reprimanded several times. He now had the floor. It was a very terrible experience, he said. The fact is that I am completely innocent. I didn't do anything wrong. He indirectly referred to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who became one of the prosecution's star witnesses at trial. He was allowed to speak as if he were George Washington, Trump said. But he's not George Washington.

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