Donald Trump has been convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his historic criminal trial in New York
It is the first time a former or serving US president has been convicted of a crime
He will be sentenced on 11 July – the ex-president could face prison, but legal experts say a fine is the more likely outcome
Trump calls the verdict a “disgrace” and attacks Judge Merchan, who presided over the case
The verdict comes as he campaigns to defeat Joe Biden in November’s election and return to the White House
The court heard from 22 witnesses over six weeks, including Stormy Daniels, whose alleged sexual encounter with Trump was at the centre of this case
Trump stood accused of concealing a payment made by his former lawyer to buy the ex-adult film star’s silence shortly before the 2016 election
The 12 jurors deliberated for two days before reaching a unanimous verdict
One of Trump’s top lawyers has told Fox News that former president’s legal team is “considering all options” for appeal.
“Every aspect of this case is ripe for appeal,” said Will Scharf.
“We are going to appeal as quickly as we can.”
Another key member of Trump’s legal team, Todd Blanche, has also popped up on Fox where he argued that his client did not receive a fair trial.
“We’ve been saying for over a year that we couldn’t get a fair trial in Manhattan. We couldn’t get a fair trial with the judge,” he said.
Blanche said that former Trump fixer Michael Cohen – who you can read more about in the previous post – has made it his “life mission is to destroy Trump”.
“There are some people that really shouldn’t be witnesses at trial,” he added.
Former Manhattan prosecutor Duncan Levin said the District Attorney’s Office presented a “thorough” case that proved “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Donald Trump had indeed conspired to pay out hush money and cover it up with false records.
“The case was deeply corroborated, with testimony not built around one person but with texts and emails and phone records,” he told the BBC.
“The prosecution case was methodical, and the jury clearly paid attention.”
He said Trump had done everything in his power to “undermine” the administration of justice – engaging in criminal contempt ten times.
“And yet the system still gave him a trial that was fundamentally fair,” he said.
“That is a big win for the prosecution.”
Source BBC
