Former President Donald Trump appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday for his hush-money trial, where a jury of New Yorkers later found him guilty of 34 felonies.
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NEW YORK – Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the outcome of the 2016 election, a historic verdict that comes as Republican presidential candidate Trump is running for the White House again.
This is the first time a former or sitting president of the United States has been convicted.
Twelve New York jurors said Thursday they agreed that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to influence the 2016 election.
The decision came after about a day and a half of deliberations.
Trump remained silent as the verdict was read. But the former president told reporters outside court that it was a “rigged, disgraceful trial” and said the “real verdict” would be handed down on Election Day.
Trump’s legal team said it would appeal the conviction.
New York Judge Juan Merchan has scheduled sentencing for July 11, just four days before the start of the Republican National Convention. Trump faces up to four years in prison, but as a first-time white-collar offender, he does not need to go to jail and can also receive probation.
The jury heard from 22 witnesses over about four weeks of testimony in Manhattan Criminal Court. Jurors also weighed other evidence — primarily documents such as phone records, invoices and checks from Michael Cohen. Leaving Daniels to keep the story of her alleged affair with the former president under wraps.
The fact that payments and invoices were labeled for legal services is not disputed. What prosecutors need to prove is that Trump falsified records in order to further commit another crime — in this case, a violation of New York election law, which states that “any two or more persons conspire to promote or prevent any Anyone elected is guilty of a crime.” Holding public office through illegal means. ” Jurors can choose whether the illegal tactics violated federal campaign laws, falsified tax returns or falsified other business records.
Trump’s defense focused on Cohen’s credibility and argued that influencing the election was not illegal.
The verdict comes more than a year after a grand jury indicted Trump on March 30, 2023, the first time a former or current president has faced criminal charges.
Republicans dismissed the indictment as an overreach by Alvin Bragg, the Democratic district attorney who brought the charges. Republican elected officials quickly rallied around Trump again Thursday following the conviction.
At a news conference Thursday night, Bragg said: “While the defendant may be different from any other defendant in American history, we conducted this trial in the same manner as every other case that has come before the courthouse door and ended up doing just that. “Today’s verdict”: Follow the facts and the law, and do so without fear or favor. “
what the jury heard
In August 2015, two months after Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race, the book’s then-publisher David Pecker national enquirer According to Pecker and Cohen’s testimony, the tabloid met with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower.
Pecker testified that during that meeting, it was agreed that he would be the “eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign. His job was to find negative stories about women that he could “take away” from the market by buying the rights but never publishing them.
As Pecker outlined, his plan is to suppress these stories while publishing negative stories about Trump’s opponents. Pecker said some of the stories were sent to Trump and Cohen for approval before publication.
Peck said he served in that role for the next year. His testimony was corroborated by Keith Davidson, who represents Daniels and former attorneys. playboy Model Karen McDougall. Around June 2016, McDougal considered going public with her year-long romance with Trump. But Pecker purchased the rights to the story and expected Trump to compensate him. Never happened.
In early October 2016, according to the testimony of former Trump communications assistant Hope Hicks, the Trump campaign enter hollywood On the tape, Trump can be heard boasting: “When you’re a star, they let you do this. You can do anything. Get ’em by the ass.”
The next day, Daniels threatened to publicly accuse her of a sexual encounter with Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite during a celebrity golf tournament in 2006, according to Peck, Cohen and Davidson.
Daniels said in her testimony that after leaving the suite bathroom, she found Trump lying on the hotel bed in his underwear and there was a “power imbalance.” That’s when they had sex, Daniels said.
She testified that Trump proposed a possible role on his TV show Celebrity Apprentice. This detail – that the sex was not entirely wanted – led the defense to request a mistrial, which was denied. It also provided an incentive for Trump to suppress the story. Prosecutors said “Trump knew what happened in the hotel room” and did not want it to leak out. The adult film actor’s testimony also included intimate details of her alleged sexual encounters, some of which Judge Merchant agreed with the defense were unnecessary.
Cohen testified that toward the end of October, he frantically opened bank accounts and tried to figure out a way to pay $130,000 to keep Daniels quiet. But Cohen said Trump wanted to delay the payments until after the election because he believed it would no longer matter whether Daniels would be paid after the election.
Trump paid to influence the election by retaining female voters, a point other witnesses confirmed. Hicks testified that Trump, who was in the White House at the time, told her the story would have been better published in 2018 rather than 2016.
Cohen eventually wired the money to Daniels himself, saying it was with the understanding that Trump would repay him. Cohen testified about multiple conversations with Trump and was supported by phone records, including a conversation on the day he sent the money. But the defense troubled Cohen during cross-examination because of evidence that one of the calls Cohen said was made through Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller, instead Schiller called from a 14-year-old The threat of pranksters.
Still, the core of the case hinges on testimony about what happened after the election, when records were falsified, specifically handwritten notes and documents from the Trump Organization’s former comptroller, Jeff McConney.
McConnell verified a key record: bank statements showing Cohen’s wire transfers. The records include handwritten notes from Cohen and former Trump finance chief Allen Weisselberg describing a “total total” of $130,000 that will be paid to Cohen’s taxes. This amount, plus another reimbursement and bonus, totals $420,000, payable at $35,000 per month over 12 months.
These payments will be described as being made under “legal retainers”. (Wesselberg, who is serving a prison sentence for perjury in Trump’s civil fraud trial, did not testify.)
On the witness stand, Cohen described a repayment plan that formed the basis for 34 falsified business records: 11 falsified invoices, 12 falsified ledger entries and 11 erroneous recordings of repayments as legitimate “holds.” person’s check. Nine of the checks were signed by Trump himself.
Cohen said he and Weisselberg met with Trump to discuss the agreement shortly before Trump traveled to Washington, on or about January 17, 2020. And at the end of the meeting, he said, “This will be a journey from Washington.” Cohen said he and Trump discussed the arrangement again in the Oval Office in early February. Photos and White House records confirm the two men met in the Oval Office.
The defense presented only two witnesses, including Robert Costello, an attorney who wanted to represent Cohen after the FBI raided his home and office in 2018. was to refute Cohen’s assertion that Costello pressured Cohen to stay. But Costello’s emails show that Trump was deciding which of Cohen’s lawyers to pay, and Costello was worried about not showing “we were following Trump’s instructions.” [Rudy] Giuliani or the President,” referring to the former New York City mayor who served as Trump’s lawyer at the time.
How this ruling will impact the 2024 election
Trump has continually blasted any criminal charges he faces, calling them “election interference” that would hurt his 2024 campaign.
The hush-money case may be the only one of four ongoing criminal cases Trump will hear before the 2024 election in November, as federal trials in Washington, D.C., and Florida, as well as a state case in Georgia, are in various stages of delays .
The decision in New York could have ripple effects as Trump campaigns as the Republican presidential nominee. The 54 other criminal charges he currently faces have not deterred potential voters, and among some Republicans, the cases have bolstered support for him. However, such a conviction may not be popular with independents and swing voters.
The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll in May found that 17% of voters said they would be less likely to vote for Trump if he was convicted, while 15% said they would be more likely to vote for him . Sixty-seven percent of registered voters nationwide said their vote would have no impact if Trump was found guilty in the hush-money trial.
“We respect the rule of law and have no further comment,” White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement.
However, President Joe Biden’s campaign issued a longer statement. “Today in New York we saw that no one is above the law,” spokesman Michael Taylor said. “There remains only one way to stop Donald Trump from entering the Oval Office: the ballot box.” Conviction or not, Trump will become the Republican presidential candidate.
