On May 30, 2024, former U.S. President Trump accepted a hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City and left the court after being found guilty on all 34 counts.
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Donald Trump will be interviewed Monday by a New York probation officer who will submit a report that could inform the sentence Trump receives for his hush-money conviction.
The pre-sentencing interview took place about a month before Trump is scheduled to become the first former U.S. president and the first major-party presidential candidate to be sentenced for a crime.
According to NBC News, which first reported the matter, Trump’s lawyer Todd Branch will attend the interview with his client, and they will conduct a virtual interview at Trump’s home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. Timing of post-conviction proceedings.
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign confirmed to CNBC that Monday’s interview will be conducted virtually rather than in person.
The interview will give Trump’s attorney, Todd Branch, a chance to highlight aspects of Trump’s life, such as his age and lack of arrest record or family ties, that could persuade Judge Juan Merchant to impose a lighter sentence punishment.
The probation officer’s pre-sentencing report after the interview will make a sentencing recommendation to the judge and may also include information about other people involved.
Trump’s sentencing date is July 11; the deadline for his defense team to submit a sentencing recommendation to the judge is Thursday.
The probation interview comes as Trump’s legal team prepares to challenge a Manhattan Supreme Court jury’s May 30 decision that found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“President Trump and his legal team have taken the necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan District Attorney’s case,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNBC.
A New York jury found that shortly before the 2016 presidential election, Trump falsified business records related to a program to silence porn star Stormy Daniels with the intent to commit, or at least assist or conceal, election-related crimes.
Under New York law, first-degree falsification of business records is a Class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison.
Legal experts have expressed mixed views on whether Trump’s prosecutors will seek prison time or whether Momo will seek prison time.
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