The jury in New York has found former President Donald Trump guilty on all counts in the hush-money trial involving payoffs to a woman who he allegedly had sex with over 18 years ago. Sentencing will be July 11 at 10 a.m. in the Manhattan courtroom.
Porn actress Stormy Daniels testified earlier this month that the two of them had a sexual encounter in 2006 and she was paid to keep silent about it during the presidential race 10 years later.
While there are numerous lawsuits against Trump by governments in New York and Georgia, this was his first criminal trial and the first criminal trial of a former president. Trump did not testify in the trial.
The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over Wednesday and Thursday on the 34 counts of falsifying business records.
An appeal of the verdict seems almost certain.
When Trump came out of the court building, he spoke briefly, railing against the “conflicted judge, a corrupted, rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn’t give us a venue change. We were at 5.5 or 6% in this precinct … The real trial is Nov. 5. We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man. It’s OK. I’m fighting for our country. This was done by the Biden Administration. We’ll fight ’til the end and we’ll win, because our country has gone to hell….” He went on to describe briefly the state of the nation under Biden.
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida wrote on X in advance of the verdict: We were told if Trump was indicted he’d be done–Trump PREVAILED. We were told if there was a mugshot he’d be done–Trump PREVAILED. We were told if court cases began he’d be done–Trump PREVAILED. President Trump will PREVAIL over this lawfare & we will Make America Great Again.
Donald Trump Jr. wrote: “Guilty on all counts. The Democrats have succeeded in their years long attempt to turn America into a third-world shithole. November 5 is our last chance to save it.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote: “Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to “get” Donald Trump.”
Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk wrote: “We knew from the start this was the most likely outcome. This case was engineered for years, from the very top of the Democrat apparatus, to bring down Trump, using a rigged law in a rigged courtroom with a rigged jury. Trump will appeal and this will, eventually, be overturned, but this is a scar on our nation. For today, at least, this country looks more like Venezuela or China or Russia than the United States of America. Now, we must be ready to maintain our resolve. There will be an unprecedented push to say that Trump CANNOT be allowed to win, that we CANNOT elect a convicted felon. Don’t give in. They did this because they are desperate. They will lose, and they will pay.”
This story is developing.
