US election 2024 live: Trump prepares to appoint top jobs after Harris vows to help transition

Kayla Epstein
reporting from West Palm Beach, Florida

In May, Trump became the first former US president ever
convicted of a crime, when a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felony
counts of falsifying business records.

Trump is scheduled to face sentencing later this month, where
he could face up to four years in prison. As of writing, it’s still on
the calendar.

But now that he’s president-elect, our legal system is in
“truly uncharted territory”, said Anna Cominsky, a professor at New
York Law School.

“For now, nothing is stopping the NY sentencing from
proceeding,” Cominsky said. “That does not, of course, mean that it
will not be indefinitely delayed.”

Justice Juan Merchan finds himself in an incredibly difficult
position. Though he has run Trump’s criminal case by the book, he has
acknowledged in rulings that he is dealing with no ordinary defendant.

Cominsky said she expected Trump’s lawyers to file for a delay
in the sentencing, and she would not be surprised if prosecutors joined them –
and Justice Merchan granted the request.

And it was very unlikely Trump would actually face jail time,
she said, given that he is set to run the country in about three months’ time.