Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of crimes in the history of the United States of America tonight. A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records he faced in his New York criminal trial.
While Republicans attacked the verdict as a miscarriage of justice, Democrats praised New York jurors for delivering the right verdict in one of the most high-profile trials in American history.
Trump, indicted and convicted
Prosecutors accused Trump of concealing a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
She was forced not to divulge information that she had sexual relations with him in 2006.
Trump made this payment shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
The actress claims that she received death threats.
Trump will learn his sentence in July
Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump's request for acquittal. The former president, liable to prison or a fine, will learn his sentence on July 11, 2024.
On July 15, the National Convention of the Republican Party is scheduled to launch the official candidate for the presidential elections. Donald Trump has left the courtroom. Visibly frowning, the former president shook the hand of his son Eric, who was accompanying him out of the courtroom, reports CNN.
Both father and son looked upset. Trump, the only remaining candidate of the Republican Party after the withdrawal of the others, considers himself innocent. He considers the verdict "disgraceful" and "false".
Former president accuses: "Our country has gone to hell"
I did nothing wrong. I'm a very innocent man," Trump said after leaving the courtroom
Trump said "the real verdict will be given on November 5, 2024 by the American people," referring to the date of the presidential election. He blames Joe Biden for being wronged. The former president, twice impeached by Congress during his tenure, was indicted last year.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, defends him. He considered May 30, 2024 to be "a shameful day in American history."
"We're going to keep fighting, we're going to fight to the end and we're going to win because our country has gone to hell," Trump said, adding that "we don't have the same country anymore, we have a divided country."
President Joe Biden's reaction
Moments after Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of impeachment, President Joe Biden said the only way to defeat his Republican rival is at the polls.
"There's only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box," Biden wrote on X.
"Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed that he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain (…) There is only one more way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box, regardless of whether he will convicted or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater. A second Trump term means chaos, the erosion of American liberties and the fueling of political violence — and the American people will reject him in November,” Michael Tyler, communications director for the Biden 2024 campaign, wrote in a statement.
The online donation portal is offline
The online portal for donations to the election campaign of candidate Trump, winred.com, was offline for a few moments. The official campaign page posted on X: "So many Americans were urged to donate to President Trump's campaign that the WinRed page went down."
CNN reports that the car carrying Donald Trump slowed down as his supporters left the courthouse. The defendant candidate waved to the crowd of people waiting to exit. Some voiced their support for the former president, and Democratic sympathizers cheered the guilty verdict.
The people in the crowd had been huddled in silence. They cheered and clapped when Trump's guilty verdict was displayed on their phones. Throughout the day, there were sporadic cheers here and there from passers-by who came up with signs saying "Shut him down." CNN has published the sketch that captures the moment when the former president receives the news that he is found "guilty".
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What's next for Donald Trump after he was found guilty. Could he be PRESIDENT FROM PRISON if he beats Joe Biden in the election?
Donald Trump, indicted in the case of porn star Stormy Daniels. He is the FIRST president of the USA to be criminally accused / The reaction of the former leader from the White House
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