Judge sentences Trump in hush money case but declines to impose any punishment (copy)

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : Trump spoke for about six minutes as he addressed the court by video.
56% : As the judge noted that voters had returned Trump to power, the soon-to-be-president relaxed back into his chair.
50% : "After it was over, Trump said in a post on his social media network that the hearing had been a "despicable charade" and that he planned to appeal his conviction.
50% : Trump was a private citizen and presidential candidate when Daniels was paid in 2016.
49% : Snow still on its way to Bloomington-Normal: 'Your turn is coming' Weather-related closures for the Bloomington-Normal area 2 arrested after 'self-inflicted' gunshot injury reported in Bloomington, police say Snow, possible sleet coming to Central Illinois Sunday morning I-55 near Lincoln reopened after crash with injuries Mount Zion boy killed, another hospitalized after inner tube collides with boulder At 90 years old, Paul Van Hook Sr. looks back on a lifetime of repairing, restoring furniture Snow, ice blanket much of Central Illinois, but stay largely clear of Bloomington-Normal Pritzker: Illinois 'fighting like heck' to support Rivian, Stellantis amid EV uncertainty McLean County man gets maximum prison sentence of 59 years for sexually abusing a minor Jack Waddell, 'electrifying' opera singer and mentor from Bloomington, dies at 83 Central Illinois prepares for heavy winter storm Perry Arthur Klopfenstein, Sr. Check out six new Illinois State football players from the transfer portal Flick Fact: Just how rich is the Pritzker family?
46% : "And that's why in 10 days President Trump is going to assume the office of the president of the United States.
45% : Merchan said that like when facing any other defendant, he must consider any aggravating factors before imposing a sentence, but the legal protection that Trump will have as president "is a factor that overrides all others.""Despite the extraordinary breadth of those protections, one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict," Merchan said.
45% : Before the hearing, a handful of Trump supporters and critics gathered outside.
42% : After, Trump was expected to return to the business of planning for his new administration and host conservative House Republicans as they gathered to discuss GOP priorities.
34% : 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.
34% : And while prosecutors said Cohen's reimbursements for paying Daniels were deceptively logged as legal expenses, Trump says that's simply what they were.
32% : One group held a banner that read, "Trump is guilty."
31% : 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.
30% : It was done to damage my reputation so that I would lose the election, and, obviously, that didn't work," Trump said.
27% : 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.
27% : Trump denies the alleged encounters occurred.
25% : Bragg's office said in a court filing Monday that Trump committed "serious offenses that caused extensive harm to the sanctity of the electoral process and to the integrity of New York's financial marketplace.
24% : Meanwhile, the other criminal cases that once loomed over Trump have ended or stalled ahead of trial.
20% : The hush money case accused Trump of fudging his business' records to veil a $130,000 payoff to porn actor Stormy Daniels.
19% : Rather than show remorse, Trump has "bred disdain" for the jury verdict and the criminal justice system, Steinglass said, and his calls for retaliation against those involved in the case, including calling for the judge to be disbarred, "has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has put officers of the court in harm's way.
16% : Trump called the case "a weaponization of government" and "an embarrassment to New York.

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