By Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter, Washington, Dc
19:27 09 Jun 2024, updated 20:41 09 Jun 2024
Former President Donald Trump is scheduled for a virtual probation interview on Monday, according to a report from NBC News, after a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his ‘hush money’ trial.
The former president will participate in the hearing from his home at Mar-a-Lago, according to the report, citing ‘three sources familiar’ with the matter. The probation interview is a normal process for Trump’s pre-sentencing report.
The interview is the next step in the sentencing process as Judge Juan Merchan is scheduled to sentence the former president on July 11, just days before the Republican National convention begins in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The interview will be conducted by a probation officer and Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche will be present.
The interview will be followed by a report that will be delivered to the judge.
Trump faces up to four years in prison after the conviction, but it’s also possible that he could get probation.
Click here to resize this module
A successful appeal to the higher courts from the Trump legal team, however, could set the sentencing decision further back.
Trump continues railing against the verdict, appearing at a Turning Point PAC rtown hall in Arizona on Thursday to rally supporters behind him.
‘I just went through a rigged trial in New York,’ he said. ‘With a highly conflicted judge where there was no crime, it was made up fabricated stuff, they didn’t want to bring the case, they could have brought the case seven years ago but it’s only when you run for office they bring cases,’ he said.
Trump celebrated that he and the Republican party had raised nearly $400 million in donations since the verdict was announced.
‘They know it was rigged. They know it’s a corrupt, they know all about it,’ he said, adding that ‘those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out or we’re not going to have a country any more.’
The conviction could be affected after Judge Juan Merchan informed the prosecution and Trump’s defense attorneys Friday of a post on the New York Unified Court System’s Facebook page.
‘My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted [heart emoji] Thank you folks for all your had work!!!!’ the message posted by Facebook user Michael Anderson read.
If the post is found to be a result of a juror discussing the case before the verdict, it could be grounds for a mistrial.
