Donald Trump has been found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict came after a jury deliberated for less than 12 hours in the unprecedented first criminal trial against a US president, current or former. It marks a perilous political moment for Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican nomination, whose poll numbers have remained unchanged throughout the trial but could tank at any moment.
Trump was convicted by a jury of 12 New Yorkers of felony falsification of business records, which makes it a crime for a person to make or cause false entries in records with the intent to commit a second crime. He will be sentenced on 11 July at 10am ET. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt,” Trump said at the courthouse after the verdict was read.
“This was a rigged trial, a disgrace.” Joe Biden’s campaign hit back in an email sent soon after the verdict. “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.
Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain,” wrote communications director Michael Tyler. “But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.
Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for presi.
