How a humble civil servant could end up holding ‘extraordinary power’ over Donald Trump

Before he adjourned the first-ever criminal trial of an American president, New York Justice Juan Merchan instructed convicted felon Donald Trump to make an appointment with a probation officer to review his background, mental health and the 34-count guilty verdict against him.

Judge Merchan is scheduled to sentence Trump on July 11, but first the former president must report to the New York City Department of Probation for a crucial, mandatory interview with a civil servant.

A resulting report from that interview will help guide Judge Merchan on Trump’s potential jailtime, fines, probation, community service or other sentence after a jury unanimously found him guilty of falsifying business records on May 30.

In some of the final words spoken at the historic court hearing, the judge told Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche that “the clerk of the court will give you instructions on how to go about scheduling that probation interview and getting that probation report.”

The paperwork indicates that a defendant must “immediately” present to the probation office, though it does not appear that Trump did so after trudging out of the courtroom with his attorneys and entourage. Judge Merchan’s instructions suggest that he didn’t have to go straight from the courtroom, but it is unclear when, or if, the former president will participate.

The brief interview typically would take place on the 10th floor of the criminal courthouse in downtown Manhattan, and Trump must do it alone – he won’t be able to bring an attorney with him when he sits for an interview with a probation officer, a civil worker for the state.

The interview is a chance for Trump to make a good impression and the case for a lenient sentence, but the officer will likely