WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- President-elect Donald Trump won't face prison time, probation or a fine, but he will take office as the first U.S. President with a felony conviction.  New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an "unconditional discharge," on Friday, for his hush money case. A New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.  "In layman's terms, no strings attached. He's convicted and that's pretty much it," said Derrick Hogan, a criminal defense attorney who practices at the Tully Rinckey law firm in New York. "If this was your ordinary citizen, I find it very hard to believe they would just receive an unconditional discharge."  Judge Merchan said because of President-elect Trump's election, an unconditional discharge was the only reasonable outcome.  "The considerable, indeed extraordinary legal protections afforded by the office of the Chief Executive is a factor that overrides all others," Judge Merchan said in court on Friday.  Merchan added, those factors "do not reduce the seriousness of the crime."  President-elect Trump appeared for his sentencing virtually and spoke before he was sentenced.  "I got indicted over calling a legal expense a legal expense," President-elect Trump said. "It was done to damage my reputation so that I'd lose the election."  House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the case politically motivated, in a statement released after the sentencing. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) tweeted the case was a "baseless NYC liberal activist charade."  President-elect Trump's attorneys are also fighting to prevent the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report.  Smith charged President-elect Trump with trying to overturn the 2020 election and illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home. After the election, Smith dropped the charges, because the Department of Justice doesn't prosecute sitting presidents.  U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon initially blocked the release of the Special Counsel's report. An appeals court overturned her ruling. The Department of Justice indicated it's still trying to release the report.  Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) urged the Department of Justice to release the report, before President-elect Trump takes office, because "he'll order the reports destroyed," Whitehouse said in a tweet.