Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be questioned by New York City probation officials on Monday, a needed step before his sentencing in July in his criminal trial. Case for hush moneysaid three people acquainted with the plan.
Trump will conduct the interview via video conference from his residence on the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, the people told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly disclose the plans.
One of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, shall be present for the interview. Typically, convicted people in New York meet with parole officers without their lawyers, however the judge in Trump’s case, Juan Merchan, said in a letter Friday that he would allow Blanche’s presence.
The usual purpose of a pre-sentence probation interview is to arrange a report that may tell the judge more in regards to the defendant and potentially help determine the suitable punishment for the crime.
Such reports are typically prepared by a probation officer, social employee or psychologist from the probation department who interviews the defendant and possibly his or her family and friends, in addition to individuals affected by the crime.
Pre-sentence reports contain the defendant’s personal history, criminal record, and sentencing recommendations. They also include details about employment and any responsibilities to look after a member of the family. They also give defendants the chance to clarify why they imagine they deserve a lighter sentence.
A jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records at his own company, part of a bigger plot to purchase the silence of people that had told potentially embarrassing stories about him in the course of the 2016 presidential campaign. One $130,000 payment went to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump, which he denied.
Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, says he’s innocent of any crime and that the criminal proceedings were initiated to break his probabilities of returning to the White House.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a press release on Sunday that President Joe Biden’s allies within the Democratic Party “are further escalating their ongoing witch hunt and continuing to abuse and misappropriate the power of their offices to interfere in the presidential election.”
“President Trump and his legal team are already taking the necessary steps to challenge and overturn the Manhattan District Attorney’s lawless case,” he said.
Merchan has scheduled Trump’s sentencing for July 11. He has the discretion to impose a big selection of penalties, starting from probation and community service to 4 years in prison.
