Jury finds Trump guilty on all counts in hush money trial
A Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on all counts in a case accusing him of falsifying business records to conceal payments he made to suppress unflattering stories about him.
It’s the first time a former president has been convicted of felony charges.
In remarks shortly after the verdict, Trump called it a “disgrace” and said the trial was “rigged.”
“The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people,” Trump said. “We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man.” He also blamed the Biden administration for the trial, even though the charges were not brought by the federal government, but rather the Manhattan district attorney’s office — an independent local enforcer.
Though historic, it’s just the first of several separate federal and state cases Trump is currently facing, all while he tries to regain his old seat at the White House. In this case, prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization reimbursed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen for hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels, to keep her from going public with a story about her and Trump having sex. Witnesses at the trial included Daniels and Cohen as well as David Pecker, the former publisher of the tabloid the National Enquirer, who helped broker the deal with Daniels.
Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. It was brought as a felony case because Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg alleges he committed the crime with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, like violating federal campaign finance laws or state election law, though he’s not directly charged with those crimes.
Trump has faced a gag order during the trial that he violated multiple times, prompting the judge to threaten him with jail time. At other times, he’s appeared more sedate, with reporters observing that he appeared to fall asleep and jerk awake.
The former president’s future legal battles include going to challenges over his retention of classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago bathroom and his alleged election interference through a phone call to a Georgia election official imploring to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.