Donald Trump Completes Presentencing Interview After Less Than 30 Minutes

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump ’s mandatory presentencing interview Monday ended after less than a half-hour of routine and uneventful questions and answers, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

The former president was quizzed by a New York City probation officer for a report that will be compiled and presented to trial judge Juan M. Merchan prior to Trump’s July 11 sentencing in his hush money criminal case.

Merchan can use the report to help decide Trump’s punishment following his May 30 felony conviction for falsifying business records to cover up a potential sex scandal. The judge has discretion to impose a wide range of punishments, ranging from probation and community service to up to four years in prison.

Trump, who declined to testify at the trial, appeared for the probation interview Monday by video conference from his residence at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, with his lawyer Todd Blanche by his side. The arrangement garnered complaints of special treatment, but city officials contend that is not the case.

Typically, people convicted of crimes in New York must meet with probation officials face-to-face for their required presentence interviews and aren’t allowed to have their lawyers with them. After Blanche balked, Merchan granted him permission to sit in on Trump’s interview.

The city’s public defenders on Monday criticized what they said were “special arrangements” for Trump and urged the probation department to “ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of income, status, or class, receive the same pre-sentencing opportunities.”

“All people convicted of crimes should be allowed counsel in