After months of legal twists and turns, Donald Trump’s most active criminal case is finally coming to a close. The former and future president is set to face in a Manhattan courthouse on Friday for his sentencing on 34 felony counts of manipulating business records to hide a payment to an adult film star. Trump used his final legal manoeuvre to stop the sentencing on Thursday, when a narrow majority of Supreme Court justices declined to intervene.

The hearing takes place just 10 days before Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He had maintained that the sentencing would impair his ability to rule. In light of this, New York state Judge Juan Merchan has stated that he does not intend to sentence Trump to prison or even probation, but rather to offer a “unconditional discharge,” which means the president-elect must do nothing but the conviction will remain on his record. Prosecutors have signalled that the hearing may be short—less than an hour—and that Trump is anticipated to attend remotely.

“There’s nothing else that the defendant has to do, and thus it’s the least restrictive in terms of how it could impede the president-elect as he takes office,” Anna Cominsky, director of the criminal defence clinic at New York Law School, said of the expected sentence of unconditional discharge. “It certainly makes sense that there be some finality to this case because as a nation, we should want to move on, in particular as he assumes the role of president, and be able to look forward to the next four years without this sentence pending,” according to Cominsky. “There has to be an end.” Sponsor Message

Of course, Trump’s legal team will certainly fight the verdict and punishment again, as they did throughout the legal process. Appeals might last for years. Merchan has postponed Trump’s sentence three times since his conviction in May, first to avoid any sense of political prejudice ahead of Election Day, and then to allow Trump to plead immunity in the case, citing a Supreme Court precedent on presidential immunity. Merchan ultimately refused the immunity claims and the dismissal, clearing the way for the hearing on Friday.

In May, Trump became the first former or current president of the United States to be tried and convicted of criminal charges. The jury in Manhattan state court heard testimony from 22 witnesses over the course of nearly a month in Manhattan criminal court. Jurors also considered other evidence, namely phone records, invoices, and checks from Michael Cohen, Trump’s former “fixer,” who paid adult-film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the former president. After nearly a day and a half of deliberation, the 12 jurors said they were unanimous in their belief that Trump manipulated business documents to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels in order to influence the 2016 presidential race.

However, the verdict appeared to have little impact on Trump’s popularity—and eventual electoral victory—in the 2024 presidential election. He has utilized the legal drama to raise funds for his campaign and cover growing legal costs. Within 24 hours following the guilty verdict, Trump’s campaign reported raising millions of dollars. And in November’s election, 49% of voters chose to re-elect Trump to the presidency.