By AP and published by Yahoo!News
New York – Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday (May 30) was found guilty on all 34 felony counts in his criminal hush money trial.
It was the first time a former US president was ever tried or convicted in a criminal case, and was the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial.
Prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments tied to an alleged scheme to bury stories that might torpedo his 2016 White House bid.
At the heart of the charges were reimbursements paid to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in exchange for not going public with her claim about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
Prosecutors said the reimbursements were falsely logged as “legal expenses” to hide the true nature of the transactions.
The charges Trump faces are punishable by up to four years in prison. He has denied any wrongdoing and had pleaded not guilty.
Judge Juan M. Merchan has set Trump’s sentencing for July 11.
Here’s the latest:
Manhattan DA says prosecutors did their job
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday night said prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money case did their job and followed it through.
“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial, and ultimately today at this verdict, in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors — by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favour,” he said.
“I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favour, and that’s exactly what we did here,” he added.
Florida supporter: ‘I would vote for him 20 times’
A few Trump supporters in Miami arrived at the iconic Cuban restaurant Versailles, where Donald Trump made a stop a year ago after pleading not guilty in the classified documents case in Florida.
Supporters were waving Trump flags, while others were just stopping by or honking as they drove by to signal support for the former president and presumptive GOP nominee.
“This is so wrong. All of us Cubans stand with Donald Trump. This is so wrong,” said Michael Perez Ruiz, 47, who had arrived at the restaurant to order food. Perez said he still plans to support him in November. “I would vote for him 20 times,” he said.
Maria C. Gonzalez, a retired nurse, 67, said she wanted to show up to support Trump, who she thought made the country better.
“It was all arranged. It was not a fair trial,” she said. “I was not surprised. They don’t want him as president” she said referring to Democrats.
At one point two Trump supporters chased away an older man who confronted them saying he hoped Trump would be jailed soon. The three of them were arguing loudly on the street.
Cheers at Atlanta bar upon reading the verdict
Reaction around the country to Donald Trump’s conviction largely seemed to track with partisan responses among political leaders in Washington.
At Atlanta’s Manuel’s Tavern, a popular liberal hangout near Jimmy Carter’s presidential library and the Carter Centre, a small gathering of customers huddled at the bar to hear the verdicts.
They looked up at a television mounted next to a vintage portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As a news anchor relayed the verdicts, they cheered. Upon the 34th guilty verdict, one bartender rang the “tip bell” behind the bar.
One patron yelled profanity while calling Trump an “idiot.”
Soon, though, conversation turned to the fact that Trump has appeal options and still will be formally nominated by Republicans as their presidential nominee in July as he pursues them.
Outside the bar, Joan Marks, a 58-year-old Democrat, hailed the verdict but offered a firm prediction: “Get ready for a felonious president.”
Head of NAACP calls verdict a ‘step toward justice’
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, called the verdict against Donald Trump “a monumental step toward justice for the American people.”
“Whether it’s an attempt to steal an election or overthrow our government, one thing has long been apparent — Donald Trump is unfit to represent American democracy,” Johnson said after the verdict was heard on Thursday.
Johnson, who leads the nation’s oldest civil rights organisation, said the crimes that Trump has been convicted of ought to disqualify him as a candidate for the Oval Office.
“As Black Americans have been denied basic human rights due to less offensive crimes, any attempt to advance Donald Trump’s nomination for the presidency would be a gross advancement of white supremacist policy,” he said.
Trump’s DJT stock dips
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of the social networking site Truth Social, slumped after Donald Trump’s guilty verdict was announced.
The shares, which trade under the symbol “DJT,” fell about 8% in after-hours trading Thursday as news of the verdict in his hush money case emerged. They have been extraordinarily volatile since the company’s debut in late March, frequently making double-digit percentage moves either higher or lower on a single day.
The shares peaked at nearly $80 in intraday trading on March 26. They closed regular trading Thursday at $51.84 before the verdict was announced.
Michael Cohen reacts
In a statement sent by text message on Thursday, Michael Cohen said: “Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law. While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”
He thanked his attorneys “for their invaluable guidance and support.”
Unless he’s sent to prison, Trump can still vote
Donald Trump may have been convicted of a felony and reside in Florida, a state notorious for restricting the voting rights of felons, but he can still vote as long as he stays out of prison in New York state.
That’s because Florida defers to other states’ disenfranchisement rules for residents convicted of out-of-state felonies. In Trump’s case, New York law only removes their right to vote when incarcerated. Once they’re out of prison, their rights are automatically restored — even if they’re on parole, per a 2021 law passed by the state’s Democratic legislature.
“If a Floridian’s voting rights are restored in the state of conviction, they are restored under Florida law,” Blair Bowie of the Campaign Legal Centre wrote in a post explaining the state of law, noting that people without Trump’s legal resources are often confused by Florida’s complex rules.
In overflow room as verdict was read
It was very quiet in the courtroom and an overflow room right before the verdict in Donald Trump’s criminal trial was read.
Due to the anonymous jury, monitors in the overflow room were off while the verdict was read, so members of the media and members of the public who were there to observe could not see Trump’s face as the first “guilty” was read aloud.
A court officer had warned the overflow crowd not to make any outbursts, but a hushed gasp could be heard in the room. The video feed resumed after the last charge was read aloud, showing Trump sitting with an expressionless stare as history was made.
Outside crowds react to Trump’s guilty verdict
A group of around 100 Trump supporters who have gathered daily near the courthouse in lower Manhattan to watch the former president’s motorcade pass murmured in disbelief as news of the verdict in his hush money trial appeared on their phones.
A few shouted in anger. At a park across the street where small groups of people have been gathering daily to protest, Trump’s opponents let out cheers.
The cheering from the street could be heard all the way up on the 15th floor of the courthouse, in the hallway, as the decision was being read.
Trump addresses reporters outside courtroom
Donald Trump addressed reporters outside the courtroom following the reading of the guilty verdict in his hush money trial.
The former president called the verdict a “disgrace” and said the trial was rigged. He said he’s “an innocent man.”
“We’ll keep fighting,” Trump said. “We’ll fight to the end and we’ll win.”
Biden’s communications director reacts to verdict
President Joe Biden’s campaign sought to keep the focus on the November election even as it said Thursday that former President Donald Trump’s criminal conviction showed that “that no one is above the law.”
Communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement: “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”
Biden himself has yet to weigh in on the verdict. He is spending the night at his family’s beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after marking the anniversary of his son Beau’s death earlier Thursday at church in Wilmington.
Biden’s campaign has tried for months to remind Americans of what it sees as the peril of another Trump term in office, rather than the personal jeopardy faced by the former president in court.
“A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence — and the American people will reject it this November,” Tyler said.
Congressional Republicans swiftly condemn verdict
Trump allies released a flurry of statements just minutes after the jury’s decision in Donald Trump’s hush money case was announced.
“The verdict in New York is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our system of justice,” Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who is a potential vice president pick, posted on the social platform X.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican who is second in line to the presidency, in a statement called the trial “a purely political exercise, not a legal one.” Johnson added: “President Trump will rightfully appeal this absurd verdict—and he WILL WIN!”
Ahead of the jury announcing a verdict, one Republican urged people to respect the legal process.
Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland who is now running for the Senate, wrote on X that “all leaders—regardless of party—must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship. We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law.”
Sentencing scheduled for July
Judge Juan M. Merchan has scheduled Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case for July 11, just days before Republicans are set to select him as the 2024 presidential nominee.
Judge denies defence’s post-verdict request to acquit Trump
Defence lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial moved for an acquittal of the former president after the jury had delivered its verdict.
Defence lawyer Todd Blanche told Judge Juan M. Merchan: “We move for a judgment of acquittal.”
“There’s no basis and no way this jury could have reached a verdict without accepting the testimony of Michael Cohen,” Blanche said.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass rebutted the assertion, saying “We, of course, disagree with Mr. Blanche’s characterization of Michael Cohen’s testimony.”
Lara Trump:: Trump will try to campaign for presidency even if he’s convicted
It appears that — if he is convicted — a guilty verdict won’t stop presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump from trying to reclaim the White House.
That is according to Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
Lara Trump serves as co-chair of the Republican National Committee. She told Fox News Channel on Thursday that Trump would still try to campaign for the presidency if he’s convicted. Trump faces 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Lara Trump said if Trump is convicted and given a sentence of home confinement, “We will have him doing virtual rallies and campaign events if that is the case. And we’ll have to play the hand that we’re dealt,” according to a transcript of the interview.
The 34 counts against Trump are all the same charge, a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put Trump behind bars if the jury convicts him.
Other punishments could include a fine or probation.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Former President Donald Trump walks outside of Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Photo: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool and published by Yahoo!News
Front Page: Former President Donald Trump speaks outside the courtroom after a jury convicted him of felony crimes for falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, on Thursday, on May 30, 2024. Photo: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool and published by Yahoo!News
First insert: Journalists filing stories in a hallway after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts in his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. Photo: Justin Lane/Pool photo via AP and published by Yahoo!News
Second insert: A supporter of Donald Trump waits outside Manhattan Criminal Court for his motorcade to pass after the guilty verdict announced against the former President, on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. Photo: AP /Julia Nikhinson and published by Yahoo!News
Third insert: People react to the guilty verdict announced against former President Donald Trump outside Manhattan Criminal Court, on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. Photo: AP/Julia Nikhinson and published by Yahoo!News
Also read: Chaikasem might be named PM in place of Srettha: Academic
Wissanu downplays hearsay of ‘legal miracles’ to help Thaksin, Yingluck
Whether Thaksin would be released on bail might depend on own action
Move Forward won’t join Pheu Thai-led govt: Chaithawat
Cambodia gears up to begin work on controversial canal
Escaped Thai convict arrested in Bali where he pretended to be dumb
