Trump to participate in virtual pre-sentencing interview with probation officers

Former President Trump is set to take part in a virtual interview with New York probation officers Monday, before his sentencing hearing next month, the Trump campaign has confirmed.

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree last week. The six-week-long trial stemmed from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

Trump is expected to be interviewed via video conference. 

A pre-sentencing probation interview is often conducted to prepare a report for the judge to learn more about the defendant, and possibly help to determine the proper punishment for the crime. 

TRUMP SAYS GUILTY VERDICT IS A ‘SCAR’ ON NEW YORK JUSTICE SYSTEM, VOWS TO ‘KEEP FIGHTING’

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, arrives for his criminal trial at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, NY on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records last year, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first former U.S. president to face trial on criminal charges.   (Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERS)

Trump’s sentencing date is set for July 11 — just four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. 

“President Trump has established a commanding polling lead in the battleground and Crooked Joe Biden is on the ropes. His Democrat party allies know it, so they continue to ramp up their ongoing Witch-Hunts, further abusing and misusing the power of their offices to interfere in the presidential election,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case. The American People will not fall for the Biden-directed Hoaxes and will hold Crooked Joe and his comrades to account this fall.”

Trump is continuing to request Judge Juan Merchan terminate the gag order restricting him from speaking about witnesses and the case now that the trial has concluded, citing the 2024 election and the first debate against President Biden later this month, as well as his First Amendment rights and the rights of his supporters. 

TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL

Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump before the trial began, barring Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case — other than Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

Trump’s team repeatedly appealed the order and have been denied. 

Former President Donald Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. Jury deliberations in  Trump’s criminal hush money trial enter a second day as jurors navigate the weighty task of evaluating the former president’s guilt and innocence alongside the facts of the case.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Trump was fined $10,000 for violating the gag order during the trial. Merchan also threatened Trump with jail time for further alleged violations.

“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” 

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“The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me,” Merchan said during the trial. “Your continued willful violation of the court’s order … constitutes a direct attack … and will not be allowed to continue.… It is not allowed to continue.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.