Donald Trump maintained his innocence in a defiant and rambling statement ahead of his sentencing on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Friday. The president-elect called his conviction and sentencing a “very terrible experience” and a “great embarrassment” for the state of New York while continuing to claim that the case against him had no basis in fact.

President-elect Donald Trump appeared virtually at a sentencing hearing in the New York hush money case. The judge imposed a sentence of unconditional discharge without any punishment in the case, citing extraordinary legal protections afforded to the office of the presidency.