Trump was convicted of all 34 charges in New York on Thursday.
New York:
A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his silent case on Thursday, in a seismic development just five months before the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.
The first criminal trial of a former US president ended with Trump, 77, found guilty on each of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment intended to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump — who was released without bail and is almost certain to appeal — initially sat motionless in the drab Manhattan courtroom, his shoulders slumped.
But minutes later, addressing reporters outside, he called the result a “disgrace” and “rigged,” promising that the “real verdict” would come from voters in the November 5 presidential election.
The conviction pushes the United States into uncharted political territory.
However, this does not stop Trump from continuing his bid for the White House, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison.
Sentencing has been scheduled for July 11 — just before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is expected to receive the party’s formal nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the election.
The Biden campaign issued a statement saying the trial showed that “no one is above the law.” She 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 a unanimous conclusion in a matter of minutes.
Merchan thanked the judges for completing the “difficult and stressful task.”
Their identities were kept secret throughout the process, a rare practice, more common in cases involving the mafia or other violent defendants.
– Electoral conspiracy –
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 sexual relations with him could have been fatal to his campaign.
The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult entertainer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.
Prosecutors successfully presented a case alleging that the hush money and illegal payment cover-up were part of a broader crime to keep voters from knowing about Trump’s behavior.
Trump’s defense lawyers responded that “trying to influence an election” was simply “democracy” and that the former president did nothing wrong.
– Campaign in court –
The trial distracted Trump from his campaign to remove Biden.
However, he attracted media attention throughout, with daily on-camera speeches outside the courtroom in which he complained of being a political victim.
However, after teasing the possibility for weeks, Trump – who denied having sexual relations with Daniels at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006 – chose not to testify.
Keith Gaddie, a political analyst and professor at Texas Christian University, said the political impact of the shocking events has yet to be determined.
“It probably doesn’t move many votes, but in certain states with specific swing votes, it could matter on the margins. So in particularly close races, it can tilt things in one direction to another,” she said.
The Republican, who became known as a brash real estate mogul before a surprising rise to the nation’s highest office in the 2016 election, now faces prison or, more likely, probation.
In theory, he could face up to four years in prison for each count of falsifying business records, but legal experts said that as a first-time offender, he is unlikely to go to prison.
A feature can take months to complete.
If he wins the presidency, he will not be able to pardon himself, since the case was not brought by the federal government, but by the state of New York, where only the governor could clear his name.
Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden and hoarding classified documents after leaving the White House.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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