Instant Reaction: Supreme Court Allows Trump Sentencing

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:11.440 Let's get to legal analyst June Grosso, host of Bloomberg Law. June, 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:13.800 I'm sure it's been busy for you in the last 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:16.599 half hour trying to get up to speed. How was 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.520 this decision divided? In what way did the court come down? 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:23.880 Well, that was the surprise of this decision that it 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.560 was a five to four decision. So the three most 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:30.560 conservative justice is Thomas Alito, Gorsich, and Justice Kavanaugh, who 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.919 tends to be in the middle somewhere, would have granted 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.479 this application. So it was the three liberal justices, the 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.879 Chief Justice and Justice Amy Cony Barrett, who denied it. 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.280 So that's kind of surprising because when you look at 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.400 Trump's arguments, what he was asking for is to be 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:53.640 treated differently from any criminal descendant, without really providing any 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:56.960 good explanations for why that should happen. He wanted them 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:03.400 to basically extend that controversy ruling giving presidents broad immunity 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.280 from criminal prosecution for official acts. He wanted them to 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.840 extend that to a president elect, and they refused to do. So. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:14.440 What they said was that the issues that he's raising 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.680 can be raised on appeal in the New York case. 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:21.319 And also he had claimed that his responsibilities as president 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:26.240 elect during the transition would be burdened by his appearing 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:30.840 at this sentencing, and they said that his responsibilities were 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:36.039 not were relatively insubstantial in this sentencing. So they just 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.000 basically said no way. 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:42.200 So in terms of prosecutors pushing back, what was the 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:44.800 argument essentially, Well. 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:46.960 The prosecutor said that one of the things they said 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.600 was that this was a jury verdict, and under our system, 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.960 we have to really treasure jury verdicts. We have to 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.480 respect jury verdicts, and you can't just throw out a 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:01.320 jury verdict. They also attacked his arguments that this was 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:06.000 going to be some kind of burden on his responsibilities 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.919 in the transition. And I think what was smart here 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.000 is that Judge mur Sean and a lot of people, 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:13.960 when he first came out and said I'm not going 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.120 to give him any sentence, said well, what's the point 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.120 of the sentencing? Then, well, the point is that now 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.640 Trump couldn't say that, oh, the judge may sentence me 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.480 to time, or the judge may sentence me to probation, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.000 or who knows what, because the judge had said I'm 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.200 not going to sentence you to anything. I'm going to 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.640 give you what's called an unconditional discharge. And basically what 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:39.960 this is is a symbolic sentencing, so that Trump is now, yes, 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.600 a convicted felon, and that felony is on the books 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.760 in New York. And I think the problem for Trump 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.560 was always the stigma of being, you know, the first 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.799 felon to be sworn in as president of the United States. 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:55.920 So I think that's it's the stigma for him more 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.959 than anything else, because there's no other impact on him 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.440 at all. There won't be probation, there won't be even 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.600 a fine. It'll just be the judge saying, you know, 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.320 this is the verdict and you're convicted, and then it's over. 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.680 So is this over? You can can the state appellate 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.040 courts in New York kind of change the outcome here 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:15.600 in any way? 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.520 Yeah, because he is still and as the justice is said, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:24.160 he can go forward with the appeal as a person 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.079 normally would go forward. Normally, you wait for the sentencing, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.040 you wait for the conviction comes, then the sentencing, and 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.520 then you can start the appellate process through the New 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.240 York Appellate courts. Well, Trump jumped all that. You know, 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:39.880 he wanted to go right ahead and go to the 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.280 Supreme Court. And I mean normally most people don't go 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.280 to the Supreme Court, and normally most people take it 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.680 through the appellate process. So that's what he's going to do. Now, 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:52.839 after the the the judge does the sentencing, then the 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.800 appeal will take place. He'll have thirty days to file 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:57.800 to say that he's filing for appeal, and he can 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.000 raise all these issues in the appeal. But remember too 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.600 that some of these issues that were raised in New 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:07.520 York the Appellate Court and the Court of Appeals, which 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.040 is New York's highest court, rejected So but you know 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:13.200 he'll raise them again. And I'm sure this case is 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:15.080 going to go on for some time. I mean, appeals 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:15.800 can take years. 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.239 I have to ask you about the report that Trump 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.640 had a phone call with Samuel Alito, one of the 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.680 justices on the court. In the case of whether or 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.520 not this was in any way related, we don't know that. 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.559 Alito did say he was giving a former law clerk 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.479 a recommendation for a role in the new administration. Did 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.440 how did that feel to you when you got that news. 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:42.600 Well, you know, Alito said that they did not talk 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:46.359 about anything having to do with Trump or his cases. 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.440 You know, there's nothing ethically wrong with that, I think, 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.280 as long as he didn't discuss any cases before the court. 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.160 But it does sort of sit. It just sits as 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:00.160 something that it appears to be something that looked it's 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:02.880 like an ethical violation, even though it's not. It appears 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:07.680 to be something that perhaps is. You know, it's unsettling 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.240 sort of to have a justice of the Supreme Court 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.039 talking to the president hours before the president elect excuse me, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.640 hours before the president elects lawyers file papers with the 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.159 Supreme Court. It doesn't look good. But as far as 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.719 you know, whether anything went on, who knows, and Alito 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:27.120 said that different it's didn't And that's the way it's 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:28.920 going to stay. This is not going to go any further. 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:33.599 I mean, we've seen ethical violations, allegations of ethical violations, 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.240 but the Supreme Court go up through the federal judiciary 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.680 and they refuse to go forward. So this is certainly 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:40.479 nothing's going to happen with the sets for sure. 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:44.080 So you mentioned he's now a convicted felon, and sentencing 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:46.760 will happen tomorrow morning at nine thirty am, a Wall 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:50.200 Street time. And then on the twentieth, obviously, the President 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.279 elect will take the oath of office. That's historic in 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.480 and of itself because never has the United States had 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.360 a sitting president who has been a convicted felon in 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:04.520 the legal community. Are they talking about retaliation in any way? 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.320 Do you think as the result of this, you. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:12.280 Mean retaliation for the Manhattan district attorneys or Trump has 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.760 been talking about retaliation against the Manhattan District attorney since 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.480 the case was filed. I mean, he has been talking 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.719 about this throughout. He would do press conferences, you'd come 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:25.240 out and make statements during the trial about how unfair 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.240 the the whole thing was, how you know it was 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.280 a witch haunt, and how the Manhattan District Attorney had 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:35.880 it in for him. It was all political. So that's there. 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.920 But it's going to be hard to go after a 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:43.520 sitting district attorney because he's protected in certain respects for 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.000 the things that he does in office. And it'll even 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:50.520 be I think even he'll get, you know, legal representation 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.039 free from the States. So it's going to be more 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:56.560 difficult than Trump makes it seem. For the Justice Department 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:00.000 to even you know, put that case together, and certainly 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.719 it's not a case that's going to you know, that's 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.200 going to go forward anywhere that it will probably be 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:08.359 dismissed right away if it's brought at all. But you know, 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.120 that is what Trump has said all along that he 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.200 you know, so he probably is going to look for retaliation, 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.560 but I dad he'll get it. What should we be. 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:20.040 Looking out for, in particular tomorrow morning around these sentencing 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:23.520 the language that the judge may use in an addressing 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:25.680 President elect Trump. 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.800 I think we should put a stopwatch on how quick 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.559 the sentencing is because there's really not much to be said. 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.160 There's not going to be any kind of you know, appeal. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.160 I'm sure Trump is not going to Maybe Trump will 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:41.200 say something. Actually I could be wrong. He may say 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:45.200 something before he's sentenced, but you know, it's going to 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.480 be very quick because we all know what the judge 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.800 is going to say, and there's not going to be 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.040 much of an argument from either side. The judge has 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.360 already set this out, so I think it's going to 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.080 be very quick and at most we'll see some kind 0:07:58.080 --> 0:07:59.920 of statement from Trump, who's going to be a peer 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.640 by video he doesn't have the judge that he doesn't 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.559 even have to come into the courtroom. That was another 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:07.680 thing that the Supreme Court sort of I must have 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:12.480 picked up on that this is just a brief virtual hearing. 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:16.240 They said, it's to impose the sentence of unconditional discharge 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.400 after a brief virtual hearing. So I think what you 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.560 have to take away from this whole thing is that 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.640 Judge wanmershawn knew what he was doing and set this 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.760 up so that the case could be ended without any 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.680 interference from the Supreme Court or the courts of Appeal 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:30.240 in New York. 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.000 We'll leave it there, June, thank you so much for 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.040 making time to chat with us. Bloomberg Legal analyst June Grosso, 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:38.679 host of the Bloomberg Law Show, helping us understand a 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.800 little bit more about the decision on the part of 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.840 the US Supreme Court to clear the way for President 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:47.600 elect Trump's sentencing in his hush money criminal case. We 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.520 are told the sentencing is set for nine thirty am tomorrow. 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:56.520 Over four deercents, the justices rejected Trump's request to halt 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.800 the New York sentencing as even though a State of 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.960 the FLDS court here in New York is considering Trump's 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:07.000 claim of a presidential immunity and as June kind of 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.600 laid out there. Juan Verschan, the New York judge overseeing 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:14.120 this case, has said he will not give Trump jail time, 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:16.280 any fine or probation,