The latest Trump news is that he was the only U.S. president to be convicted of a crime on Thursday when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
After two days of deliberation, the 12-member jury pronounced Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts he faced.
Trump watched the jurors dispassionately as they were polled to confirm the unanimous verdict.
Justice Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican Party is scheduled to formally nominate Trump for president ahead of the November election.
The crime of falsifying business documents carries a potential sentence of four years in prison, though those convicted often receive shorter sentences, fines, or probation. Incarceration would not legally prevent him from campaigning or taking office if he were to win.
Trump is Not Going to Jail
The verdict plunges the United States into unexplored territory ahead of the November vote when Trump will try to win back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump, 77, has denied wrongdoing, and an attorney representing him said they would appeal as quickly as possible.
“This was a disgrace,” Trump told reporters afterward as he proclaimed his innocence and repeated his complaints that the trial had been rigged against him.
Trump News: He is Adamant Voters to Decide
“The real verdict is going to be in November by the people,” he said.
Trump gave a thumbs-up sign through the tinted window of his SUV as his motorcade left the courthouse. Trump supporters, journalists, police, and onlookers stood in a park opposite the courthouse.
Opinion polls show that Trump and Biden, 81, are locked in a tight race, and Reuters/Ipsos polling has found that a guilty verdict could cost Trump some support among independent and Republican voters.
The case has been regarded as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions Trump has faced. But the verdict looms large now as it will likely be the only one before the election, with the others delayed by procedural challenges.
Trump News: Jury Finds Him Guilty
The jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business documents. This came after sitting through a five-week courtroom presentation. It featured explicit testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels. She talked about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denies ever having sex with Daniels.
Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, testified that Trump approved a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels back in 2016. This is when Trump faced multiple accusations of sexual misbehavior.
Cohen testified that he handled the payment and that Trump approved a plan to reimburse him through monthly payments. This was disguised as legal work.
Trump’s lawyers hammered Cohen’s credibility, highlighting his criminal record and imprisonment and his history of lying. Merchan also cautioned jurors to examine his testimony carefully.
The relatively short amount of time jurors needed to reach a verdict was a sign that they thought there was enough evidence to back up Cohen’s testimony, said George Grasso, a retired New York judge who attended the trial.
A source familiar with the Trump campaign’s inner workings said the verdict was expected to prompt him to intensify deliberations on picking a woman as his vice presidential running mate. His campaign website labeled him a “political prisoner” and urged supporters to donate.
Biden Campaign: No One Above the Law
The latest Trump news has been great for the Democrats. Biden’s campaign said the verdict showed that no one was above the law. He urged voters to reject Trump in the election.
“There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box,” the campaign said in a statement.
The White House declined to comment.
Trump’s fellow Republicans quickly condemned the verdict. “Today is a shameful day in American history,” House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said in a prepared statement.
The jury notified the court they had reached a verdict at 4:20 p.m. (2020 GMT), and the foreperson read out all 34 guilty counts shortly after 5 p.m.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Merchan to throw out the guilty verdict, arguing that it was based on Cohen’s unreliable testimony. Merchan denied his request.
A Trump appeal is likely to focus on porn star Daniels’ salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter as well as the novel legal theory prosecutors used in the case. Still, he faces long odds, legal experts said.
Trump Ready to Fight
“We are going to appeal as quickly as we can. We will seek expedited review of this case,” Trump attorney Will Scharf told Fox News.
As a standalone crime, falsifying business documents is normally a misdemeanor in New York. Still, prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office elevated it to a felony because Trump was concealing an illegal campaign contribution.
They had the burden of proving Trump guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which is the standard under U.S. law.
“We did our job. (There are) many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken,” Bragg said.
Jurors heard testimony of sex and lies that have been public since 2018, although the charges themselves rested on ledger accounts and other records of Cohen’s reimbursement.
If elected, Trump could shut down the two federal cases accusing him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Another example is mishandling classified documents after leaving office in 2021. He would not be able to stop a separate election-subversion case in Georgia.
Trump has pleaded that he is innocent in all the cases. He has portrayed his various legal troubles as an effort by Biden’s Democratic allies to hurt him politically.
