A jury of seven men and five women found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
This is the first time in American history that a current or former president has been convicted of a felony.
The jury deliberated for less than 12 hours.
To reach a conviction the decision has to be unanimous.
Trump and his legal team were hoping for one or two holdouts to result in a hung or deadlocked jury. In the case of a hung jury New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg would have to decide if he wanted to retry the case. Trump’s team considered a complete acquittal not impossible but very unlikely.
The original 12 jurors made it through the trial which started April 15. There were 6 alternates.
The sentencing date has been set for July 11 which is only a few days before the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin starting July 15. It is anticipated that Todd Blanche, Trumps lead lawyer, will ask that the sentencing date be pushed until after the convention.
The impartiality of the judge and jury has been under a microscope since the New York District Attorney brought charges against Trump. The Manhattan venue will be part of Trump’s appeal that is already in the works.
While Manhattan is predominantly Democrat, some of the jurors followed Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social. One juror even said he admired Trump while another said she thought he was selfish. All jurors said they were capable of putting any bias aside and could consider the case based on the evidence.
Yesterday, Trump commented outside the courthouse that Judge Juan Merchan “was so conflicted he couldn’t breathe.”
Judge Merchan, a Republican appointee, had donated $35 to a Democrat organization a few years ago. An outside judge ruled that Merchan was not conflicted and could fairly preside over the case.
Trump has been considered a New Yorker most of his life having built and run his businesses there since the 1980’s. He now lives in Palm Beach, Florida.
After the verdict was read and the jurors excused Trump commented outside the courthouse that the his trial was “rigged” and a “disgrace.”
“November 5 will be the real verdict,” he said. “We didn’t do a thing wrong. I am an innocent man.”
Trump said this was all a ploy by the Biden Administration to derail his 2024 presidential campaign.
“We will fight for our constitution. This should have never happened,” he said.
Many family members have been present in the courthouse to support Trump during the six week trial except his daughter Ivanka and his wife, Melania.
Trump’s lawyer must file a response to the verdict by June 13 and the prosecution must reply by June 27th.
Those who believe in the rule of law, believe in this country’s judicial system, and in the validity of trials by jury, this verdict will be accepted. It is not necessary to like or even agree with the outcome but if we are to continue to live in a democracy and have a country whose judicial system is built on the premises that no man is above the law then do not undermine law and order by claiming falsely that the jury, the judge and our courts were rigged. To do so is quite telling; elected Republican party members or anyone else for that matter who openly agree with Trump’s whiny petty pitiful cries are no longer bothering to pretend that they support and respect the rule of law of our country. Of course, this isn’t surprising as we were made quite aware of this fact by those who either cheered or denied or minimized the attack on our nation’s capital.
Barbara, wouldn’t you like to know if taxes were paid on the so called “hush money”. You seem very determined to tear Mr. Trump apart, yet there are questionable people NOT reporting facts….GET YOURS STRAIGHT SISTER!
Cari,
Maybe you should stop watching only FoxNews and learn the facts! Trump said the money paid to Stormy Daniels was for “legal expenses” which was completely false, it was to reimburse his then attorney for the money paid to Daniels to keep her quiet before the election in 2016. See this article with proof and facts and not propaganda you are watching or listening to:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-charges-conviction-guilty-verdict/
Under New York law, falsification of business records is a crime when the records are altered with an intent to defraud. To be charged as a felony, prosecutors must also show that the offender intended to “commit another crime” or “aid or conceal” another crime when falsifying records.
In Trump’s case, prosecutors said that other crime was a violation of a New York election law that makes it illegal for “any two or more persons” to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means,” as Justice Juan Merchan explained in his instructions to the jury.
Cari……please explain the “questionable people not reporting facts”. What people? What facts? This is a constant chorus with the MAGA crowd. Make a lot of accusations but don’t follow them up with facts.
Well said G. Sada! Bob it would be nice if Cari actually answered your question but being MAGA he will utilize the “art of the dodge” when asked questions he cannot or will not answer. As for Cari’s comment to me he apparently is incapable of or perhaps too immature to understand that “good citizenship” requires not undermining but “caring about the facts” and “caring about safeguarding Democracy” which means respecting law and order and our judicial system” and “accepting the decisions of juries of our peers” even though he may not like the outcome.
So Biden can flaunt SCOTUS, destroy the border and dictate when he chooses to do anything. No thank you; I will never again vote for a Democrat!