Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (Photo by Michael M. Santiago / POOL / AFP)
In a landmark decision, a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on all charges in his hush-money case on Thursday. The verdict comes less than five months before the 2024 presidential election, where Trump seeks to reclaim the White House.
Trump, 77, was found guilty on all 34 charges of falsifying business records to conceal a payment made to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels. The historic trial marks the first criminal conviction of a former US president.
Trump, who is expected to appeal, remained silent and visibly slumped in his seat as the verdict was read. The conviction propels the United States into uncharted political territory but does not legally prevent Trump from running for the presidency again, even if he were to receive a prison sentence from Judge Juan Merchan.
The decision was reached just weeks before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is anticipated to secure the party’s formal nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden on November 5.
The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days, following an extraordinary five-week trial held in a Manhattan courtroom. The charges stem from a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, to Stormy Daniels in 2016 to prevent her from disclosing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump, which occurred in 2006.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, provided graphic testimony during the trial detailing the encounter. Prosecutors argued that the hush money and the subsequent cover-up were part of a broader scheme to deceive voters about Trump’s behavior.
“Falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen for the hush money was part of an illegal attempt to influence the election,” prosecutors said.
Trump’s defense team contended that attempting to influence an election was a legitimate part of the democratic process and insisted that Trump had done nothing wrong. The trial, however, diverted Trump’s attention from his ongoing campaign to unseat Biden, although he continued to leverage the media spotlight, often speaking to the press outside the courtroom and portraying himself as a political victim.
The identities of the 12 jurors were kept confidential, a measure typically reserved for cases involving organized crime or violent defendants. Despite weeks of speculation, Trump opted not to testify in his own defense.
The former president now faces potential prison time or probation. While theoretically, he could be sentenced to up to four years for each count of falsifying business records, legal experts suggest that as a first-time offender, he is unlikely to serve jail time.
An appeal process could extend for several months. If Trump were to win the presidency again, he would not be able to pardon himself, as the case was prosecuted by the state of New York, not the federal government. Only the governor of New York could grant him clemency.
In addition to this conviction, Trump is also facing federal and state charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and for allegedly retaining classified documents after leaving the White House.