Senate Republicans warn Judge Juan Merchan of 'abuse of power' if he sentences Donald Trump to prison

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The GOP Senators are cautioning New York Judge Juan Merchan against sentencing Donald Trump to prison, house arrest, or any other restrictive measures in hush money case.

The warning against the judge was to not take any action against the former president that would hinder his ability to campaign ahead of the November election, according to The Hill.

Donald Trump's hush money case conviction

In the hush money case, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business documents and could face four years in prison on each charge.

However, the outlet reported that legal experts claim Judge Merchan could not sentence Trump to more than 20 years in prison.

They also do not anticipate intervention from the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court to help him and the appeal process could span several months.

This places the former president's immediate future largely in the hands of Judge Merchan who is set to deliver the sentence, just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Senate Republicans voice concerns over Donald Trump's conviction

Despite legal experts claiming that it is less likely for Trump to receive a prison sentence for a class E felony, there is still considerable concern among Republican senators about the possible outcomes.

Sen John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee opined that incarcerating Trump or sentencing him to house arrest would be a “further abuse of power."

“I’m very troubled by what I see in the way the courts have been weaponized,” he continued.

“It used to be there were some institutions in America, namely the FBI, the Department of Justice and the courts, which were regarded as out of bounds for overt partisan politics, but unfortunately that’s changed, and not for the better," added Cornyn.

Sen Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) remarked that sentencing Trump to jail would be “foolish.”

Speaking about Judge Merchan, Budd said, “But when you see the conviction and the rules that he instructed the jury with, it’s completely unfair, it’s unconstitutional, and I would put nothing past him at this point."

He added that a tough sentence “would only strengthen the resolve of the Americans to support President Trump."

Judiciary Committee member Sen Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) who initially doubted Trump would be convicted is now uncertain about the possibility of him being imprisoned before Election Day.

“With this process, anything is possible,” said Tillis, adding, “Unless they can pretty quickly find examples of where similar cases have resulted in prison time, it just adds more fuel to the fire that it was [District Attorney Alvin] Bragg’s politically motivated decision” to seek jail time.

Internet slams GOP senators warning Judge Juan Merchan against sentencing Donald Trump to prison

Reacting to Senate Republicans warning Judge Merchan against sentencing Trump to prison, one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "Republicans now actively interfering with the judicial process to support a convicted felon. It's shameless."

"They are trying to intimidate and interfere with the judge. Obstruction of justice," a netizen commented while another user tweeted, "Judicial interference."

One user wrote, "So the GOP puts politics over justice. No surprise here."

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