A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty on Thursday of all 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former or sitting U.S. president convicted of criminal charges.
Twelve jurors agreed unanimously after about a day and a half of deliberations. They found he falsified records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, made to influence the 2016 election. Trump sat silent and still as the verdicts were read. Outside the courtroom he called the proceeding a “rigged, disgraceful trial” and said the “real verdict” would come on Election Day. His lawyers signaled an appeal.
Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention opens. The maximum is four years in prison, but as a first-time, white-collar offender Trump could instead get probation.
What the jury weighed
Over about four weeks, the jury heard 22 witnesses, and studied phone records, invoices and checks to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, who paid Daniels. Nobody disputed the payments or that invoices called them legal services. Prosecutors had to prove Trump falsified the records to advance another crime, a violation of a New York election law against conspiring to promote or prevent a person’s election by unlawful means. Jurors could pick from the Federal Election Campaign Act, falsified tax returns or other falsified business records.
David Pecker, then publisher of the National Enquirer, testified that in August 2015 he agreed at Trump Tower to act as the campaign’s “eyes and ears,” buying up negative stories about Trump so they would never run. Keith Davidson, a lawyer for Daniels and Karen McDougal, backed him up. Pecker bought McDougal’s story in about June 2016 expecting Trump to repay him, which never happened.
Daniels testified about a 2006 encounter at a Lake Tahoe hotel suite. Her testimony led the defense to ask for a mistrial, which the judge denied. Cohen said he scrambled to open bank accounts in late October 2016, while Trump wanted the payment delayed until after the election. Cohen wired the money himself, expecting repayment.
The reimbursement became the heart of the case. Records showed a $130,000 payment to be “grossed up” for Cohen’s taxes, and with a reimbursement and a bonus the total reached $420,000, paid at $35,000 a month over 12 months and described as a “legal retainer.” Cohen said the repayments produced 11 falsified invoices, 12 falsified ledger entries and 11 checks, nine signed by Trump himself.
The defense called two witnesses and concentrated on Cohen’s credibility, arguing that influencing an election is not illegal. It scored a point when it showed that one call Cohen tied to a Trump bodyguard was actually about a 14-year-old prankster.
Reaction
A grand jury had indicted Trump on March 30, 2023. Republicans dismissed the charges from Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg as overreach, and after the verdict Republican officials lined up behind Trump. “We arrived at this trial,” Bragg said Thursday evening, “in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors.”
The White House counsel’s office said it respected the rule of law and had no further comment. Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said: “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.”
A May NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found 17% of voters would be less likely to back Trump if he were convicted, 15% more likely, and 67% of registered voters said it would make no difference.
Sources
- Former President Trump is found guilty in historic New York criminal case
- Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York
