General Discussion

Merchan said during sentencing Friday that he was granting that sentence because he believed it was the only legal option, just 10 days before Trump assumes the presidency.

Merchan told the court that "this has been a truly extraordinary case," even though once the courtroom doors closed, the trial itself had been in his estimation no more special or unique than any other.

However, he told Trump, the same could not be said about the circumstances surrounding the president-elect's sentencing "because of the office you once occupied and will soon occupy again." Merchan said that it was the legal protections afforded to the office of the president that were extraordinary, "not the occupant of the office."

Those legal protections were a factor that overrode all others, Merchan said, but they were not a mitigating factor. He said they did not reduce the seriousness of the crimes or erase the jury's verdict.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-sentencing-new-york-hush-money-case/