CNN
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A Manhattan jury on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 charges of falsifying business records, an unprecedented and historic verdict that makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony.
Trump is not only the first former president to be convicted of a felony, but also the first major party presidential candidate to be convicted of a crime while campaigning and, if he defeats President-elect Joe Biden in November, will become the first sitting president in history to be convicted of a felony.
The verdict in the hush money trial was announced after jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over two days.
It will ultimately be up to voters in November to determine the weight of the guilty verdict of 12 ordinary New Yorkers, but legally, the verdict does not prevent him from being elected president again.
“This has been a rigged and dishonorable trial. The true verdict will be given by the American people on November 5th. The American people know what happened here, everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said after leaving the courtroom, blasting the judge and the prosecutors who brought the case. “We did nothing wrong. I am completely innocent,” he said, vowing to keep fighting.
03:00 – Source: CNN
Watch Donald Trump speak outside the courtroom after his conviction
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) announced the charges against Trump last year, becoming the first former president to do so, accusing him of falsifying payments to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to conceal $130,000 he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair with Trump (which Trump denies) before the 2016 election.
During the seven-week trial, the district attorney’s office called 20 witnesses to tell the jury how the hush money payment to Daniels was part of a series of bribes to cover up negative reporting about Trump before the election, and that Trump was concerned about repercussions for his campaign when the payment was made in October 2016.
Cohen was the prosecution’s star witness, describing how Trump directed Daniels to make the payment and then approved a plan in 2017 to repay it in monthly installments of $35,000, an amount that was “increased” in part to take into account taxes Cohen would have to pay.
Judge Juan Marchan set Trump’s sentencing date for July 11, 2024 at 10 a.m., just days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Shortly after Trump was convicted, Biden said the only way to defeat his Republican rival was through voting, and on the campaign trail he stressed the importance of the 2024 election.
“The only way we can keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office is at the ballot box,” Biden wrote on X, linking to his fundraising page.
The campaign said in a statement that the ruling shows “no one is above the law.”
“The threat that Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater,” said Michael Tyler, communications director for the Biden 2024 campaign. “A second term for Trump would mean chaos, curtailment of American freedoms and incitement to political violence — and the American people will reject it this November.”
The Trump campaign also moved swiftly to capitalize on the ruling and raise funds, characterizing the case as a political witch hunt — a sentiment echoed by supporters of the former president who came to Trump’s defense on Thursday.
“This is a shameful day in American history,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on the X, calling the incident “not a legal action, but a purely political one.”
This is breaking news and will be updated as new developments occur.
Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle and Laura Dolan contributed to this report.
