Donald Trump was interviewed by New York’s probation service on Monday ahead of his sentencing next month for concealing hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The Republican presidential candidate, who on Sunday held a rally with his supporters in Las Vegas, completed the interview in less than 30 minutes, according to a source close to the case.
Probation interviews are a routine process for convicts and typically involve questions on their criminal past, family and job situation, and mental and physical health, with a pre-sentencing report then sent to the judge.
“President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case,” said Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung.
US media reported that Trump — the first former US president to be convicted of a crime — completed the probation interview by video call from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, rather than a conventional in-person meeting at the New York court.
Trump was found guilty in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged sex scandal with Daniels ahead of the US election in 2016.
He is due for sentencing on July 11 — days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he will be officially anointed as the presidential nominee.
Falsifying business records can be punishable by up to four years in prison, but experts say it is extremely unlikely the judge will hand down a custodial sentence given it is Trump’s first criminal conviction.
Trump faces three other criminal cases, including charges related to his unprecedented attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, but these are unlikely to be heard before November’s election.
