In social media posts on Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump criticized the U.S. justice system and suggested there has never been a president “so evilly and illegally treated” like him, after Judge Juan Merchan upheld Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money case and scheduled his sentencing.
Trump wrote on Truth Social saying “corrupt judges” are “so blinded by their hatred of me and my political ideology” have made a “mockery of the United States judicial system.”
On Friday, Merchan denied Trump’s request to throw out his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, after ruling Trump’s sentencing on Jan. 10 would not disrupt his upcoming presidency.
In an earlier Truth Social post, Trump maintained his innocence and claimed the charges against him were “made up” by Merchan, whom Trump criticized as “the most conflicted judge in New York state history” while suggesting Merchan be disbarred.
Trump also denounced New York’s justice system as “corrupt,” saying the state’s “corrupt” courts are “why people, and companies, are fleeing” the state.
“There has never been a president who was so evilly and illegally treated as I,” Trump wrote, adding, “Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors have gone against a political opponent of a president, me, at levels of injustice never seen before.”
Trump has frequently accused the prosecutors in his legal cases, including in his classified documents case, in which Trump accused the Department of Justice of operating a “witch hunt” against him in an attempt to ruin his presidential campaign. After Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his companies to pay $454 million for fraudulently inflating the value of his assets, Trump claimed the civil trial was an “election interference witch hunt.”
Trump appeared to suggest he would appeal Merchan’s ruling, saying he “still [has] confidence” an appellate court would “bring justice to America.” Trump can appeal the verdict after Merchan formally sentences him, according to the judge, though it’s not immediately clear how long that process would take to play out or whether it would continue while Trump is in the White House.
Merchan signaled in his ruling that Trump would not face prison time, though he could still be fined up to $5,000 for each of the 34 counts, totaling $170,000.
In May, a New York jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsification of business records, following a weeks-long trial about hush money payments his former attorney Michael Cohen paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
During trial proceedings, prosecutors successfully claimed those payments—which Trump reimbursed Cohen for through payments made in 2017—were falsely labeled as being for legal services. Since then, Trump has maintained his innocence, and he has successfully delayed his sentencing after the Supreme Court ruled Trump had some immunity from criminal prosecution for acts he took while president. Trump’s sentencing was first delayed from July to September and then until after the election. It was then postponed indefinitely after Trump’s presidential election win in November.
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