One former federal prosecutor is urging Judge Juan Merchan to sentence former President Donald Trump to prison, saying a sentence of just probation would have minimal effect at deterring further crimes.
In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter), Glenn Kirschner — a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia — argued that Trump serving out a sentence of probation in Florida, where he is domiciled, would amount to "no punishment at all." He further argued that letting Trump off easy could be seen by other potential criminals as a blueprint to not only commit crimes, but to make money off of their criminal behavior.
"Here is the message that other aspiring criminals will receive: 'I can commit these crimes to gain unfair advantage in an election, I can fundraise off of my indictment, I can fundraise off of my trial, I can fundraise off my conviction, and then at the end, I might be sentenced to probation? No punishment at all?'" Kirschner said. "'Because if I can commit crimes, I can get free air time by lying during the course of my trial, and I can fundraise off of my indictment and my conviction and probably my sentence to probation, for a criminal politician like me that's win, win, win, win, win. Where do I sign up? I'm ready to go!'"
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Kirschner is right in that, at least for Trump, a sentence of probation would be especially easy for Trump, given that Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis would have wide berth over dictating the enforcement of his probation. Manhattan-based criminal defense attorney Robert Tsigler told HuffPost last week that the ex-president would have a much longer leash than others on probation. He added that a "conditional discharge" — basically a suspended sentence — would be logistically the simplest sentence Merchan could impose.
"I’m very confident there would be very special circumstances and conditions and it wouldn’t be the same kind of probation that a regular defendant goes through," Tisgler said. "The path of least resistance would be a conditional discharge, but do they want to go the path of least resistance? I can’t tell you — that’s something only the judge knows."
However, former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann said Trump could very well be incarcerated, given his relentless attacks on the judge and legal process, along with his 10 violations of Merchan's gag order.
"Those [gag order] violations are not small things. The last one was finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, a disrespect of a court order to protect jurors," Weissmann said. "It's hard to think of something more serious."
READ MORE: 'It has to stop': Prosecutors say Trump violated Merchan's gag order 7 times this week
The 45th president of the United States will be sentenced on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention kicks off in Wisconsin. While Trump is a first-time nonviolent offender who will be 78 years old on the day of his sentencing hearing, avoiding prison time isn't a guarantee. Former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison despite him being an older first-time nonviolent offender.
The 34 felonies Trump was convicted on are class E felonies, which don't require prison time. However, Merchan still has the ability to sentence the former president to as much as 20 years in prison. Former defendants who have been sentenced by Merchan in the past say one major factor he considers during sentencing is if a defendant has shown respect for the process, and if a defendant shows appropriate remorse for their crime.
Watch Kirschner's video below, or by clicking this link.
READ MORE: 'Trump committed these crimes': Ex-federal prosecutor says DA proved case 'beyond all doubt'
