A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush-money case Thursday, barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.
The first criminal trial of a former US president ended with the 77-year-old Trump found guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign.
Trump, who was released without bail and is all but certain to appeal, initially sat still in the drab Manhattan courtroom, shoulders dipping.
Addressing reporters outside minutes later, though, Trump branded the result a “disgrace” and “rigged,” vowing that the “real verdict” would come from voters in the November 5 presidential election.
The conviction thrusts the United States into uncharted political territory.
However, it does not bar Trump from continuing his White House run, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison.
Sentencing was set for July 11, right before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the election.
Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying that the trial showed “no one is above the law.” It added that “the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.”
The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before announcing the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.
Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often seen in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.
The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.
Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging that the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behaviour.
Trump’s defence attorneys had countered that “trying to influence an election” was simply “democracy” and that the former president did nothing wrong.
The Republican, who made his name as a real estate mogul before his ascent to the nation’s highest office in the 2016 election, now faces prison or, more likely, probation.
An appeal could take months to complete.
Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.
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