Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed by New York probation officials Monday, a required step before his July sentencing in his criminal hush money case, according to three people familiar with the plan.
Trump will do the interview via a computer video conference from his residence at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, the people told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the plans publicly.
One of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, will be present for the interview. People convicted of crimes in New York usually meet with probation officials without their lawyers, but the judge in Trump’s case, Juan Merchan, said in a letter Friday that he would allow Blanche’s presence.
The usual purpose of a pre-sentencing probation interview is to prepare a report that will tell the judge more about the defendant, and potentially help determine the proper punishment for the crime.
Such reports are typically prepared by a probation officer, a social worker or a psychologist working for the probation department who interviews the defendant and possibly that person’s family and friends, as well as people affected by the crime.
Presentence reports include a defendant’s personal history, criminal record and recommendations for sentencing. It will also include information about employment and any obligations to help care for a family member. It is also a chance for a defendant to say why they think they deserve a lighter punishment.
A jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records at his own company as part of a broader scheme to buy the silence of people who might have told embarrassing stories about him during the 2016 presidential campaign. One $130,000 payment went to a porn actor, Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump, which he denied.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, says he is innocent of any crime and that the criminal case was brought to hurt his chances to regain the White House.
Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said in statement Sunday that President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party allies “continue to ramp up their ongoing Witch-Hunts, further abusing and misusing the power of their offices to interfere in the presidential election.”
“President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case,” he said.
Merchan has scheduled Trump’s sentencing for July 11. He has discretion to impose a wide range of punishments, ranging from probation and community service to up to four years in prison.
Trump to undergo probation interview Monday, a required step before his New York sentencing
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Trump to undergo probation interview Monday, a required step before his New York sentencing
- Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, says he is innocent of any crime and that the criminal case was brought to hurt his chances to regain the White House
Peru Congress impeaches interim president after four months in office
- Jose Jeri, 39, was accused in the irregular hiring of several women in his government, and of suspected graft
- Peru has now burned through seven presidents since 2016, several of them impeached, investigated or convicted of wrongdoing
LIMA: Peru’s Congress on Tuesday impeached interim president Jose Jeri, the Latin American country’s seventh head of state in 10 years and only the latest toppled over graft claims.
Jeri, 39, was accused in the irregular hiring of several women in his government, and of suspected graft involving a Chinese businessman.
In office since last October, Jeri took over from unpopular leader Dina Boluarte, who was also impeached amid protests against corruption and a wave of violence linked to organized crime.
Prosecutors last week opened an investigation into “whether the head of state exercised undue influence” in government appointments.
Jeri has protested his innocence.
Jeri — at the time the head of Peru’s unicameral parliament — was appointed last year to serve out the remainder of Boluarte’s term, which runs until July, when a new president will take over following elections on April 12.
He is constitutionally barred from seeking election.
Jeri has found himself in the spotlight over claims revealed by investigative TV program Cuarto Poder that five women were improperly given jobs in the president’s office and the environment ministry after meeting with Jeri.
Prosecutors said there were in fact nine women.
Jeri is also under investigation for alleged “illegal sponsorship of interests” following a secret meeting with a Chinese businessman with commercial ties with the government.
- Institutional crisis -
Some observers have pointed to possible politicking in the censure of Jeri just weeks before elections for which over 30 candidates — a record — have tossed their hat into the ring.
The candidate from the right-wing Popular Renewal party, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who leads in opinion polls, has been among the most vocal in calling for Jeri’s ouster.
Congress is now set to elect its own new leader on Wednesday to replace a caretaker in the post. The new parliament president will automatically take over as Peru’s interim president until July.
“It will be difficult to find a replacement with political legitimacy in the current Congress, with evidence of mediocrity and strong suspicion of widespread corruption,” political analyst Augusto Alvarez told AFP ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
Peru has now burned through seven presidents since 2016, several of them impeached, investigated or convicted of wrongdoing.
The South American country is also gripped by a wave of extortion that has claimed dozens of lives, particularly of bus drivers — some shot at the wheel if their companies refuse to pay protection money.
In two years, the number of extortion cases reported in Peru jumped more than tenfold — from 2,396 to over 25,000 in 2025.
