Donald Trump maintained his innocence in a defiant and rambling statement ahead of his sentencing on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Friday.
The president-elect called his conviction and sentencing a “very terrible experience” and a “great embarrassment” for the state of New York while continuing to claim that the case against him had no basis in fact.
“This is a case that should never have been brought,” Trump said over a video call into a Manhattan courtroom, standing by the accuracy of his company’s accounting. “Everybody should be so accurate.”
Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, a New York state sentence that comes "without imprisonment, fine or probation supervision." Trump’s felony conviction was a first among American presidents.
Trump called the case a “political witch hunt” meant to damage his prospects in the 2024 presidential election. He repeatedly attempted to delay the sentencing, ultimately exhausting his efforts with an 11th-hour appeal to the Supreme Court. The highest court in the land ruled 5-4 to allow the sentencing hearing to proceed.
“The fact is that I’m totally innocent. I did nothing wrong,” Trump shared on Friday morning, before wondering if the country should focus on something beyond the possible criminality of a president. “With a city that’s burning to the ground, one of our largest, most important cities burning to the ground… with all of the problems of inflation, and attacks on countries, and all of the horrible things that are going on, I got indicted over calling a legal expense a legal expense.”
Trump called the case a “weaponization of government” against him, saying he was treated “very, very unfairly” and that “the people of this country understand” that his conviction was a political stunt.
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