The jury for the criminal trial of Donald Trump have reached a unanimous verdict, finding the former president guilty of 34 counts of falsifying his business records in connection with the alleged Stormy Daniels hush money payment. Judge Juan Merchan must now decide his sentence, which can range from probation to years in prison.
Merchan denied Trump’s motion for acquittal, and set a sentencing hearing for July 11th. The date is close to the Republican National Convention, scheduled to begin on July 15th.
Trump approached the press to give comments about the verdict.
“This was a disgrace,” he began. “A rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people.”
🚨🚨BREAKING: Donald Trump reacts to the Manhattan jury's guilty verdict:
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 30, 2024
"The real verdict will be November 5th by the people."
"The whole country is being rigged right now. This is being done by the Biden Administration in order to hurt or wound a political opponent."
"We'll… pic.twitter.com/fhsRrnd1zE
The closing arguments by both the defense and the prosecution were made on Tuesday. The trial did not revolve around the hush money payment itself, but Trump’s alleged reimbursement to Cohen for making the payment. Further, the question that was raised is whether Trump properly detailed the true nature of the fee paid to Cohen in his business records. As one of the star witnesses of the case, a lot of pressure was on former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to make a convincing argument over the last several days that Trump directed him to make the hush money payment to porn star Storm Daniels. In his testimony, Cohen admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization, claiming he pocketed a large amount of a different reimbursement sent to him by Trump.
Trump is the first president in US history to face a criminal trial, and it was the first of the four legal cases against Trump to go to trial. He faces 34 felony counts (11 related to the checks, 11 on monthly invoices Cohen submitted to the Trump Organization, and 12 related to entries in the ledger for Trump’s trust) of falsifying business records in the first degree, in connection with the alleged $130,000 “hush money” payment made by Cohen to porn star Daniels in 2016.
The charges were first brought against him by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whom Republicans (including Trump) have deplored as “Soros-backed.” Bragg’s campaign received about $500,000 from a group that had received $7 million from a Soros organization in 2022.
The trial revolves around whether Trump obfuscated his business records by listing the reimbursement payments to Cohen as “legal expenses” in his ledgers. Trump could face probation or years in prison should he be convicted.
The falsification of business records in New York is a misdemeanor, but can become a felony should prosecutors establish that the falsification helped cover up a crime. Bragg claims Trump covered up a hypothetical campaign violation he would have committed if it were to be proven that he paid Stormy Daniels hush money (a case that went to trial in 2018 and morphed into the present one).
The 34 counts, all Class E felonies, each carry the weight of a four-year maximum prison sentence. While Justice Juan Merchan said he would not hesitate to imprison Trump, he could just as easily sentence him to probation.
Since the jury ruled that Trump is guilty, he will most likely appeal it which could extend the process for months. But the Secret Service has already met with officials in New York jails to ensure things will run smoothly should Trump be sentenced, according to a source in the New York corrections system. As a former president, Trump is allowed to have Secret Service protection for the rest of his life. Jail guards would be in charge of protecting the Secret Service agents in addition to protecting Trump. Where Trump would be sentenced is not yet known; Mayor Eric Adams recently remarked that Rikers Island Jail Complex would be “ready” for Trump should he be sentenced there.
