(10 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 10 January 2025
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED WITH VIDEO AND STILLS++
1. Mid, pro and anti-Trump protesters standing with signs in front of court
2.. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Sisak, The Associated Press:
"President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced in his hush money case. No punishment, no penalty for the president elect because he is about to take office in ten days. Judge Juan Merchan saying that that the overriding factor here, while the charges that Trump was convicted of back in May of 2024, could potentially land him behind bars, could lead to probation or a fine. Judge Juan Merchan said that in this case, presidential immunity will kick in on January 20th, and there is no practical way to get any other punishment. So he decided to give what is known as an unconditional discharge, meaning that the case is closed with no penalty or no punishment. But the conviction stands. It remains on Trump’s criminal record. Now, Trump did not appear in court in Manhattan in person. He was on video from his home in Florida. The judge gave him that accommodation as he is preparing to retake the White House. Trump spoke for about six minutes in court, said that this case and this conviction were an embarrassment to New York and the New York court system. He lashed out again at what he calls a witch hunt against him, said this case was politically motivated and never should have been brought. Trump also affirming that he will appeal the verdict and he will challenge it, and he hopes to see it eventually dismissed."
3. Wide of Trump supporters with flags, signs outside of courthouse
POOL
New York – 10 January 2025
4. STILL IMAGES of courtroom of President-elect Donald Trump appearing virtually for sentencing hearing alongside attorney Todd Blanche
STORYLINE:
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.
The punishment-free judgment marks a quiet end to an extraordinary case that for the first time put a former president and major presidential candidate in a courtroom as a criminal defendant. The case was the only one of four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison. Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.
Unlike his trial last year, when Trump brought allies to the courthouse and addressed waiting reporters outside, the former president did not appear in person Friday, instead making a brief virtual appearance from his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump, wearing a dark suit and seated next to one of his lawyers with an American flag in the background, appeared on a video screen as he again insisted he did not commit a crime.
Trump’s sentence of an unconditional discharge, a rarity for felony convictions, caps a norm-smashing case that saw the former and future president charged with 34 felonies, put on trial for almost two months and convicted by a jury on every count. Yet, the legal detour — and sordid details aired in court of a plot to bury affair allegations — didn’t hurt him with voters, who elected him to a second term.
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