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https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/09/opinion/thepoint/trump-trial?smid=url-share

"A day after Jimmy Carter’s funeral, where Donald Trump had to hear about all the character traits he lacks, Mr. Trump wasn’t in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Friday morning to hear his felony sentence pronounced. He appeared virtually from Mar-a-Lago in front of two American flags, along with his attorney (and choice for deputy attorney general) Todd Blanche.

This peculiar reunion, seven months after Trump’s conviction for business fraud, contained little suspense. Justice Juan Merchan, who had presided with considerable patience and wisdom over the six-week trial, tipped his hand on Jan. 3 when he wrote that Trump’s sentence would be “unconditional release.”

This sounds like no punishment at all but was in fact a “masterstroke,” retired New York Judge George Grasso told me as we walked out of the courtroom.

The proof lies in the Supreme Court’s one-paragraph, 5-to-4 ruling, issued Thursday night, that “a brief virtual hearing” and a sentence of “unconditional discharge” left a “relatively insubstantial” burden of time on the president-elect. By imposing no penalty, Merchan sharply increased the odds that Trump will be known as a felon for the rest of his life." [etc.]