In a remarkable moment in American history, former president Donald Trump was convicted of all 34 counts in his Manhattan trial for falsifying business records.
Former president Donald J. Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, was convicted Thursday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a case stemming from a payment that silenced porn star Stormy Daniels.
The conviction makes Trump the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime.
Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign, capping an extraordinary trial that tested the resilience of the American justice system and will reverberate into November’s election.
The historic conviction was handed down by a jury of 12 New Yorkers, who deliberated over two days to reach a decision in a case rife with descriptions of secret deals, tabloid scandal and an Oval Office pact with echoes of Watergate. The former president sat largely expressionless, a glum look on his face, after the jury issued its verdict.
After leaving the courtroom, Trump remained as combative as ever.
“This was a disgrace,” Trump says. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt… The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people. They know what happened here.”
Sentencing is set for July 11 at 10 a.m., which will be four days before the beginning of the Republican National Convention, at which Trump is expected to receive the party’s presidential nomination.
As to the impact on the upcoming presidential election, the sobering reality is that it may not derail the exceptionally popular Trump more than it might have any other candidate running as a convicted criminal.
