Judge Juan Merchan has announced that former President Donald Trump will be sentenced on July 11 following his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

While the former president faces the prospect of incarceration, Republican lawmakers recently slapped down any suggestion that Trump should go to jail. 

Texas senator: "the courts have been weaponized"

According to The Hill, they include Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who serves as a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Republicans are warning Juan Merchan not to sentence former President Trump to prison or house arrest or take any other action that could disrupt Trump's ability to campaign. https://t.co/vTeuGvqw9k

— The Hill (@thehill) June 4, 2024

"I'm very troubled by what I see in the way the courts have been weaponized," The Hill quoted Cornyn as saying. He added that putting Trump behind bars would amount to a "further abuse of power."

"It used to be there were some institutions in America, namely the FBI, the Department of Justice and the courts, which were regarded as out of bounds for overt partisan politics, but unfortunately that's changed, and not for the better," Cornyn lamented.

North Carolina senator predicts jail sentence will backfire

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis is a fellow member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and he expressed similar sentiments.

"Unless they can pretty quickly find examples of where similar cases have resulted in prison time, it just adds more fuel to the fire that it was [District Attorney Alvin] Bragg’s politically motivated decision" to pursue a prison sentence.

Meanwhile, North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd told The Hill it would be "foolish" for Merchan to jail Trump as doing so "would only strengthen the resolve" of his supporters.

"But when you see the conviction and the rules that he instructed the jury with, it's completely unfair, it's unconstitutional, and I would put nothing past him at this point," he complained.

Campaign donations surged followed conviction

Fox News reported that the former president's campaign took in almost $35 million over a six hour period following the announcement of his verdict.

The network further pointed out on Tuesday that the campaign collected a record $141 million in May, with much of it coming in the form of small dollar donations.

Fox News noted that contributions averaged at $70.27 and around a quarter of those who sent in money were first time donors.