ETHAN GRANDIN
Political Coordinator
Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 felony counts. This is the first time a former or sitting President of the United States has been convicted of criminal charges.
The 12 New York jurors unanimously agreed that Trump falsified business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has become the first prosecutor to convict a former president.
“The jury has spoken,” Bragg said in a press conference.
He went on to thank the jury and the jurors for their “careful attention” to the law.
The case centered around these payments saw Micheal Cohen, “fixer” and counsel to the former president, and 22 other witnesses give testimonies in the four weeks leading up to the verdict by the jury.
The verdict came after almost a day and a half of deliberations by the jury, in which each juror had to confirm their verdict.
Trump remained silent as the verdict was read. Once outside the courtroom, the former president denounced the trial as a “disgrace.”
“This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt,” Trump said.
The former president also emphasized that the “real verdict” will come about on Election Day Nov. 5. The former president has also released a campaign fundraising email which calls him a “political prisoner.”
The response from President Joe Biden’s campaign was swift.
“There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box,” Michael Tyler, communications director for the Biden campaign, said.
The reaction from others in the Republican party was also quick. Former speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy called the verdict an attempt to “interfere in [the] democratic process.”
It is unclear whether the former president will face prison or other consequences in light of his guilty charges.
“We will speak in court at that time,” Bragg said in reference to the sentencing.
Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, set the former president’s sentencing for July 11.
