A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush money case on Thursday in a seismic development 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 — 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, he 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 his 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.
Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the “difficult and stressful task.”
Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often see in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.
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.
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 behavior.
Trump’s defense attorneys had countered that “trying to influence an election” was simply “democracy” and that the former president did nothing wrong.
Campaigning in courthouse
The trial has distracted Trump from his campaign to unseat Biden.
However, he milked the media attention throughout, with daily speeches in front of the cameras outside the courtroom in which he complained about being a political victim.
Yet after teasing the prospect for weeks, Trump — who denied ever having sex with Daniels at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament — opted not to testify.
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