United States: Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial in New York concluded with his conviction on all 34 counts of falsifying corporate records. Trump criticizes Judge Merchan, who oversaw the case, and refers to the decision as a “disgrace.”
Not only is Trump the first former president to be convicted of a felony, but he is also the first presidential candidate from a major party to be found guilty of a crime while running for office. Furthermore, if he wins over President Joe Biden in November, he will become the first-ever sitting president who has a criminal record.
After nearly two days of deliberation, the jury in the hush money case returned a verdict. Voters in November will eventually determine the importance of the guilty conviction rendered by twelve regular New Yorkers, which technically does not bar him from winning the presidency again.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said after leaving the courtroom. “We didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a very innocent man,” he said, vowing to continue fighting.
To conceal a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from speaking out about an alleged affair with Trump prior to the 2016 election, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, announced charges against Trump last year and presented the first indictment of a former president. (Trump has refuted the relationship.)
The district attorney’s office called 20 witnesses during the seven-week trial to show jurors how the hush-money payment to Daniels was a part of a pattern of payoffs to conceal unfavorable stories about Trump before the election and how, at the time of the payment in October 2016, Trump was worried about the effect on the campaign.
The prosecution’s main witness, Cohen, detailed how Trump ordered him to pay Daniels and then approved the plan in 2017 to reimburse him in $35,000 monthly payments; the figure was “grossed up” to cover Cohen’s share of the taxes that year. The former president will be sentenced on July 11; while a fine is more likely, legal experts predict he could go to jail.
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