Donald Trump is the first US president to face criminal charges

Thursday marked the first time that a US president had been found guilty of a felony, as a jury in New York found that Donald Trump had falsified paperwork to conceal a payment made to a porn star in order to quiet her before the 2016 election.

The 12-member jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts after two days of deliberations.

With a detached gaze, Trump observed the jurors as they were surveyed to validate the unanimous decision.

Sentencing was slated for July 11 by Judge Juan Merchan, a few days before the Republican Party was supposed to formally nominate Trump for president in advance of the election on November 5.

Although those found guilty frequently receive lower terms, fines, or probation, the maximum punishment for the offense of fabricating company records is four years in jail. If he were to win, his incarceration would not legally stop him from running for office or from campaigning.

Before being sentenced, he won’t be imprisoned.

The decision thrusts the country into uncharted area ahead of the November election, when Trump will attempt to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden from the White House.

The 77-year-old Trump has denied any misconduct, and his legal team promised to file an appeal as soon as feasible.

“This was a disgrace,” Trump said reporters after the trial, maintaining his innocence and voicing grievances about the rigged proceedings against him.

“The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people,” he stated.

As his motorcade departed the courthouse, Trump gestured through the tinted window of his SUV. In a park across from the courthouse, Trump supporters congregated alongside media, law enforcement, and bystanders.

According to opinion polls, there is a narrow lead between Trump and Biden, 81, and Reuters/Ipsos research indicates that Trump may lose some support from independent and Republican voters if he is found guilty.

The case was usually considered the least significant of Trump’s four criminal prosecutions. But because the other verdicts have been postponed due to procedural objections, this one is likely the only one rendered before the election, so it looms huge today.

Following a five-week trial that included graphic testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels regarding an alleged 2006 sexual encounter she had with Trump while he was married to his current wife Melania, the jury found Trump guilty of falsifying company paperwork. Trump disputes that he and Daniels ever had sex.

In the final weeks of the 2016 election, when Trump was being accused of sexual misconduct on several occasions, Michael Cohen, the former fixer for President Trump, testified that Trump had approved a $130,000 payment of hush money to Daniels.

Under ostensible legal work, Cohen stated that he handled the payment and that Trump authorized a plan to reward him on a monthly basis.

Cohen’s criminal history, his incarceration, and his pattern of lying were used by Trump’s attorneys to undermine Cohen’s credibility. Merchan also advised the jury to carefully review his testimony.

George Grasso, a former New York judge who saw the trial, said that the jury’s very short time to verdict was an indication that they believed Cohen’s testimony to be sufficiently supported by the facts.

According to a person with knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump campaign, the outcome was predicted to cause him to reconsider selecting a female running mate more carefully. On his campaign website, he was called a “political prisoner” and asked for donations.

No one is above the law, says the Biden campaign

The Biden campaign urged voters to reject Trump in the election, claiming that the verdict demonstrated that no one was above the law.

The campaign released a statement saying, “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”

The White House opted not to respond.

Republicans who support Trump swiftly denounced the decision. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson remarked, “Today is a shameful day in American history,” according to a prepared statement.

At 4:20 p.m., the jury informed the court of their decision, and shortly after 5 p.m., the foreperson read out all 34 guilty counts.

Todd Blanche, the attorney for Trump, requested that Merchan overturn the guilty decision, claiming that Cohen’s untrustworthy evidence served as the foundation for it. Merchan turned down his plea.

Legal analysts predicted that despite Trump’s slim chances, his appeal would likely center on porn star Daniels’ sensational evidence regarding their supposed sexual encounter and the creative legal approach the prosecution employed in the case.

Our goal is to file an appeal as soon as possible. Will Scharf, the attorney for Trump, told Fox News, “We will seek expedited review of this case.”

Falsifying corporate paperwork is typically a misdemeanor in New York when committed alone, but because Trump was hiding an unlawful campaign gift, the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office prosecuted the case as a felony.

It was their responsibility to establish Trump’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” as required by US law.

“We fulfilled our duties. Numerous voices can be heard. The jury has spoken, and it is the only voice that counts,” Bragg declared.

The allegations themselves were based on ledger accounts and other documentation of Cohen’s reimbursement, but jurors were presented with evidence about sex and lying that had been in the public domain since 2018.

The “zombie case” got its name because Bragg revived it after his predecessor decided not to press charges.

If elected, Trump may dismiss the two federal charges against him that allege he improperly handled sensitive data after taking office in 2021 and unlawfully attempted to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election. He would not be able to intervene in a different Georgian election-subversion case.

In each case, Trump has entered a not-guilty plea and claimed that Biden’s Democratic supporters are using his legal issues to undermine him politically.