(Photo
by
SAUL
LOEB/AFP
via
Getty
Images)
This
morning
Donald
Trump
got
sentenced
to
a
big
old
NOTHING,
and
boy
is
he
mad
about
it.
After
wresting
three
postponements
from
the
court,
including
one
in
September
because
it
would
be
“political
interference”
to
sentence
him
while
people
were
voting,
Trump
immediately
pivoted
and
claimed
it
would
be
“political
interference”
to
sentence
the
president-elect.
His
lawyers
John
Sauer
(the
future
solicitor
general)
and
Todd
Blanche
(the
future
deputy
AG)
made
bizarre
claims
of
“president-elect
privilege”
that
attaches
during
the
transition.
Sitting-President
immunity
extends
into
the
brief
transition
period
during
which
the
President-elect
prepares
to
assume
the
Executive
Power
of
the
United
States,
and
the
courts
thus
lack
authority
to
adjudicate
criminal
claims
against
him.
They
demanded
an
immediate
stay
to
appeal
the
denial
of
their
motion
to
disappear
the
verdict
because
it
was
secured
using
official
acts
evidence.
And
they
spent
the
past
week
racing
from
court
to
court
in
an
effort
to
stop
their
client
from
facing
a
modicum
of
responsibility.
But
they
got
out-maneuvered
by
Justice
Juan
Merchan,
who
made
the
sentencing
so
un-burdensome
that
they
had
functionally
nothing
to
complain
about.
The
promised
punishment
of
unconditional
release,
along
with
a
dispensation
to
appear
virtually,
cut
the
legs
out
from
under
their
claim
that
wasting
even
a
second
of
Trump’s
precious
time
during
the
transition
compromised
national
security.
Sentencing
a
President
during
his
transition
“creates
a
constitutionally
intolerable
risk
of
disruption
to
national
security
and
America’s
vital
interests.”
And
if
anything
is
to
be
taken
from
the
trial
court’s
decision
to
let
President
Trump
appear
virtually
and
its
indication
that
it
will
not
incarcerate
him,
it
is
that
everyone
agrees
there
are
such
risks.
But
letting
the
sentencing
go
forward
sets
the
precedent
that
those
are
permissible
risks.
Trump
filed
emergency
motions
with
the
First
Judicial
Department
and
the
New
York
Court
of
Appeals,
before
finally
belly
flopping
onto
the
steps
at
One
First
Street
demanding
that
his
pals
bail
him
out.
But
just
this
once,
the
answer
was
“no”
…
barely.
The
application
for
stay
presented
to
Justice
Sotomayor
and
by
her
referred
to
the
Court
is
denied
for, inter
alia,
the
following
reasons.
First,
the
alleged
evidentiary
violations
at
President-Elect
Trump’s
state-court
trial
can
be
addressed
in
the
ordinary
course
on
appeal.
Second,
the
burden
that
sentencing
will
impose
on
the
President-Elect’s
responsibilities
is
relatively
insubstantial
in
light
of
the
trial
court’s
stated
intent
to
impose
a
sentence
of
“unconditional
discharge”
after
a
brief
virtual
hearing.
Justice
Thomas,
Justice
Alito,
Justice
Gorsuch,
and
Justice
Kavanaugh
would
grant
the
application.
(Did
Justice
Kavanaugh
also
get
some
personal
attention
from
the
president-elect,
or
was
that
just
Alito?)
And
so
the
once
and
future
president
whined
and
sighed
his
way
through
the
sentencing
hearing
this
morning,
complaining
that
all
the
legal
scholars
at
Fox
know
the
charges
were
bullshit,
and
no
one
had
ever
been
treated
as
badly
as
him.
WITCH
HUNT!
And
then
the
once
and
future
President
Crimetime
loped
off
to
take
comfort
in
all
the
Republican
governors
who
trooped
down
to
Mar-a-Lago
to
kiss
his
ring.