Donald Trump faces NY probation interview in hush money case: reports – USA TODAY
Former President Donald Trump faces his pre-sentencing interview Monday with the New York City Probation Department in his criminal hush money case, according to multiple media reports.
Judge Juan Merchan ordered that a probation report be prepared ahead of sentencing after Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
A probation interview is a standard part of the New York process for preparing the report, which a judge may use to help determine sentencing. A probation department officer, social worker, or psychologist typically interviews the person who has been convicted and reviews that person’s criminal record.
NBC News, ABC News, and the New York Times, among others, reported the interview will take place virtually on Monday, each citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.
“The sentencing report has some basic information, demographics and things, but then substantive areas like, ‘Does he show remorse?'” Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, told USA TODAY.
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“Probation usually makes a recommendation. Sometimes they don’t, but they usually do. That’d be interesting to see, what they – if he even complies with the questions. We’ll see,” Agnifilo said.
Trump was convicted of falsifying records to cover up having conspired to unlawfully interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors argued that Trump was part of a scheme to unlawfully keep information from the American voting public ahead of the election, including through a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged she slept with Trump in 2006.
On Friday, Merchan ruled that Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche would be permitted to be present with his client for the probation interview. Prosecutors didn’t object to that arrangement.
New York City groups that provide legal defense to criminal defendants who can’t afford a lawyer objected Monday to what they described as a “two-tiered system of justice” reflected in the arrangements for the former president. They noted in particular Trump being able to have his lawyer at his probation interview and being able to participate virtually.
“To ensure integrity and fairness, we call on the NYC Department of Probation to ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of income, status, or class, receive the same pre-sentencing opportunities,” the groups – including the Legal Aid Society, the Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender Services and Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem – said in a joint press release.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. He could face a punishment as light as probation or as heavy as several years in prison.