Veteran trial attorney and legal analyst Alan Dershowitz expressed confusion over Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to sentence President-elect Donald Trump less than two weeks before his inauguration.

Dershowitz, a consistent critic of both Judge Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg throughout the contentious case, criticized the judge’s decision to disclose the sentence in advance. In announcing the January 10 sentencing, Merchan stated that Trump would not face prison time or probation—a decision Dershowitz described as rendering the entire sentencing process a “scam.”

Trump appeared virtually for sentencing at 9:30 a.m. on Friday after exhausting his legal options. Initially postponed indefinitely, Merchan announced last Friday that sentencing would take place on January 10, giving Trump minimal time to mount further legal challenges.

Merchan also stated in advance that Trump would not face jail time, fines, or probation—a decision made before Trump had even appeared in court.

The U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that presidents are entitled to immunity from prosecution for official acts conducted while in office, shielding Trump from the judge’s jurisdiction once he is sworn in. Trump sought a delay, but a Democrat-controlled New York court denied the request on Thursday morning.

The New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order rejecting his legal team’s plea for a hearing, allowing the sentencing to proceed as scheduled. A last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was also denied in a 5-4 decision.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, joined the court’s three liberal justices in voting against the petition.

During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” shortly after the hearing, Dershowitz suggested that Merchan’s decision to announce the ruling in advance was an attempt to “persuade” the Supreme Court justices to refrain from intervening.

“What we saw today was a scam, a ploy,” he said on Friday. “It started with Judge Merchan telling in advance what a sentence was going to be. I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve never been told by a judge what the sentence is going to be.

“When I go into the courtroom with my client, I tell him to bring his toothbrush because he doesn’t know whether he’s going home or going to Rikers or some other lockup,” Dershowitz continued. “The only reason Merchan said in advance what he was going to do is to try to persuade the two justices of the Supreme Court not to take the case now, and they use that fact.”

“And they said the reason we’re not taking the case now and stopping the sentencing from going forward was because the judge said in advance that he’s not sentencing him to prison. So this was a ploy and the two justices unfortunately fell for the ploy,” Dershowitz said of Merchan.

“This is the worst thing that’s happened to the American criminal justice system since McCarthyism and the civil rights abuses back in the 1950s and the victims of the American people. Trump, yes, it was hard he said very honestly, that it was tough for him, but he prevailed, he won and the American people won because they rejected lawfare,” he added.