On Thursday, May 30, former U.S. President Donald Trump faced a hush money case, with the jury finding him guilty of all 34 charges after two days of deliberation. Trump called the hush money trial a “shame” and a “rigged trial”.
After two days of deliberation, the 12-member jury announced that they had found all 34 charges against Trump to be valid. When the verdict was read out, the 12 jurors remained expressionless.
After leaving the courtroom, Trump told the media, “This is a shame. This is a trial manipulated by a corrupt, controversial judge.”
“The real verdict will be made by the people on November 5,” Trump said. “I am a very innocent man.”
“We will continue to fight, fight to the end, we will win because our country has become hell,” Trump said. He added, “We are no longer a united country, we are in a state of chaotic division.”
“We will fight for our Constitution. This is far from over,” he said outside the Manhattan courthouse.
Trump is expected to appeal the verdict.
Based on these 34 charges, Trump faces up to 4 years in prison. However, due to lack of evidence, Trump is unlikely to be jailed but may face fines or probation. Judge Merkan has set the sentencing date for July 11.
Even if convicted, it is not expected to affect Trump’s participation in the November 5 election. If he wins, these charges cannot prevent him from taking office.
Various reactions to Trump’s conviction have emerged:
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio called the sentence against Trump a “complete farce” and believed it was “mocking the American judicial system.”
“This is a political show trial presided over by a judge openly supporting Biden — his daughter cashing in on this case, a jury from America’s most radical county, absurd accusations and appalling jury instructions guaranteeing a guilty verdict, all for Biden and the crazy left to continue reigning by all means necessary,” Rubio wrote on X.
Minutes after Trump’s conviction, President Joe Biden’s campaign team issued a statement saying, “No one is above the law.”
“Trump has consistently erroneously believed that he could evade consequences for breaking the law for personal gain,” said Michael Tyler, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, in a statement. “But today’s verdict does not change the simple reality facing the American people.”
According to a source familiar with Biden’s plans, he is not expected to hold a separate press conference to discuss the verdict. However, he may address questions on this issue when facing reporters in the future.
Biden will compete against Trump in the 2024 U.S. election.
The prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, who is in charge of the case, began a press conference around 7 PM. He first thanked the jury and outlined their work throughout the trial process, including reviewing call records, text messages, emails, bank statements, and listening to testimony.
“This type of white-collar prosecution is central to the work of our Manhattan District Attorney’s office,” Bragg said before thanking his team.
He emphasized that the jury did not consider any external factors, despite the defendant’s unique position, but treated the case process the same as any other.
“While the defendant may be unique in American history, we approached this trial and the verdict today as we would any other case,” Bragg said.
Before concluding the press conference, he reiterated the jury’s decision, finding Trump guilty of 34 charges.
Trump announced he would hold a press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Friday at 11 AM.
He posted this information on the social media platform Truth Social. At the end of the post, he wrote: “MAGA2024!”
In a statement after the sentence, Michael Cohen, a key witness and former personal lawyer to Trump, said he was encouraged by Trump’s conviction.
“Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law. Although it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters,” Cohen said in a text message.
During the final arguments of the hush money trial between Trump’s defense team and the New York prosecutors, two different narratives were presented: one about a lying former loyalist trying to distort legal records for revenge, and the other about a conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election.
Regardless of the differing political stances of U.S. media outlets, they all agree that the fate of the hush money case against Trump relies on which narrative the 12-member jury believes.
Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes said that after Trump was found guilty, their fundraising website WinRed crashed within an hour due to a surge in traffic from record numbers of supporters.
He noted that the “record number of supporters” traffic led to “intermittent delays” on the website.
Vish Burra, executive secretary of the New York Young Republicans Club, assisted Trump’s campaign team in organizing pro-Trump campaign events in New York City during the trial.
He stated that Trump’s supporters are now waiting for Trump’s legal team to appeal, and they will vote to get Trump into office.
“I find this to be an absolute disgrace,” Burra told POLITICO outside the courthouse. “I think this will just further plunge America into the Third World, which we’re already in right now.”
Trump supporters gathered outside the courthouse expressed anger upon hearing of his conviction.
“Innocent! Innocent!” a man wearing a MAGA cap shouted.
According to videos circulating on X social media, many people spontaneously gathered at locations where the Trump motorcade passed by.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought forth the hush money case against Trump, is scheduled to hold a press conference at 6:30.
Bragg rarely speaks publicly about the case and only occasionally attended the trial. In a December 2023 interview with WNYC radio, he revealed his view on the case.
“The core is not money-for-sex transactions,” Bragg said. “We would say it’s about a conspiracy to disrupt a presidential election and then lie in New York business records to cover it up.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called Trump’s sentence a “kangaroo court’s political agenda.”
“Today’s judgment represents the ultimate outcome of a legal process that has been influenced by the political desires of relevant participants: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge, and a jury reflecting one of America’s most liberal counties—all to ‘catch’ Trump,” DeSantis posted on X.
“People often say no one is above the law, but the fact is also no one can be ignored beneath the law,” DeSantis wrote. “If the defendant were not Trump, this case would not have been prosecuted, the judge would not have made a similar ruling, and the jury would not have rendered a guilty verdict.”