Hush Money Trial: Trump convicted on all 34 charges

Donald Trump becomes the first former US president to be criminally convicted, but the ruling does not stop him from running for office again.

Released without posting bail, the 77-year-old Republican is now a felon, a historic and shocking first in a nation where presidents are frequently referred to as the most powerful men in the world.

Hush Money Trial and 2016 Election

In April 2024, Acting Justice Juan Merchan of the New York Supreme Court chaired the trial “People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump,” which got underway in Manhattan’s New York County. Prosecutors provided new information regarding the hush-money trial and claimed that Donald Trump broke the law, tainted the 2016 election, and paid hush money to a porn star to hide the coitus scandal.

Following his 2016 payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence on their ten-year-ago sex encounters, former US President Trump was charged with 34 crimes for falsifying commercial records.

David Pecker, a former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified on the opening day of the trial as well. Pecker is accused of participating in a catch-and-kill plot to conceal negative stories about Trump in order to help him win the 2016 election.

Stormy Daniel and former US President Donald Trump. Image source: People

“This was a planned, coordinated and long- term conspiracy to impact the 2016 election to help Donald Trump get elected by using illegal spending to silence people who had something bad to say about him” 

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo

Former US President Donald Trump’s conviction

Trump was found guilty by the jury on all 34 counts of fabricating company documents in order to conceal a payment intended to hush porn star Stormy Daniels. The maximum punishment for each count could possibly be four years in prison, although probation is more likely.

Even in the improbable event that he is sent to prison, Trump is free to carry on with his campaign to remove US President Joe Biden in November. And he gave voice to an instant defiance.

“I’m a very innocent man”

Former US President Trump told reporters

Former US President Trump promises that voters will provide the “true verdict.” The trial, in his words, was “rigged” and a “disgrace.”

In a statement, US President Biden’s campaign stated that the trial demonstrated that “no one is above the law.” It further stated that there has never been a bigger threat to our democracy than Trump.

Four days before Trump is scheduled to accept the party’s official nomination in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention, Judge Juan Merchan scheduled the sentencing for July 11.

The 12-person jury debated for over 11 hours over two days, and in a couple of minutes, the foreman announced the unanimous verdict.

The jury was commended by Merchan for finishing the “difficult and stressful task.”

Their identities had remained a secret during the whole legal process, an uncommon practice that is typically observed in situations involving dangerous defendants or members of the mafia.

In addition, former US President Trump is accused by both federal and state authorities of planning to rig the 2020 election in favor of Biden and of retaining classified material after leaving the White House.

Those cases, though, are unlikely to begin before the presidential election—they are centered around far more serious accusations.

Aftermath

Trump’s campaign released a fundraising appeal headed “I am a political prisoner!” shortly after the verdict was rendered. He also declared that early on Friday, he will address the media in public.

If he were to become president, he would not be able to pardon himself since the state of New York, not the federal government, brought the case, and only the governor could clear his record.