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By Jeremy Herb, CNN
4 minute read
Updated 10:53 PM EDT, Thu May 30, 2024
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Politics of the Day 17 videos
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Donald Trump convicted of falsifying business records in hush money scheme
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CNN —
A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 chargesof falsifying business records Thursday, an unprecedented and historic verdict that makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony.
Not only is Trump the first former president to be found guilty of a felony, he’s also the first major-party presidential nominee to be convicted of a crime in the midst of a campaign for the White House.And if he defeats President Joe Biden in November, he will be the first sitting president in history to be a convicted felon.
The verdict in the hush money trial was announced after jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over two days.
It will ultimately be up to voters in November to decide the significance of the guilty verdict delivered by 12 ordinary New Yorkers, which, on a legal basis, does not prevent him from being elected president again.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said after leaving the courtroom, slamming the presiding judge and the prosecutor who brought the case. “We didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a very innocent man,” he said as he vowed to continue fighting.
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Watch Donald Trump speak outside courtroom after his guilty verdict
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, announced charges against Trump last year and presenting the first indictment of a former president, accusing him of falsifying the repayment of his former lawyer Michael Cohen in order to cover up a $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election. (Trump has denied the affair.)
At a news conference Thursday evening, Bragg acknowledged the historic nature of the case and the conviction. While Trump is a defendant “unlike any other in American history,” the district attorney said the verdict was arrived at “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 favor.”
“The 12 everyday jurors vowed to make a decision based on the evidence and the law, and the evidence and the law alone. Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Donald J. Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election,” he said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the media after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, on Thursday, May 30, in New York.
Throughout the seven-week trial, the district attorney’s office brought in 20 witnesses to illustrate to jurors how the hush-money payment to Daniels was part of a pattern of payoffs to keep negative stories about Trump out of view before the election, and how Trump was concerned about the impact to the campaign when the payment was made in October 2016.
Cohen was the prosecution’s key witness, describing how Trump directed him to pay Daniels and then approved the scheme to repay him in $35,000 monthly installments in 2017, an amount that was “grossed up” in part to account for taxes Cohen would have to pay.
Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing date for July 11, 2024, at 10 a.m, just days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Todd Blanche, the former president’s attorney, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” that they will “vigorously fight” in post-trial motions due to Merchan in a few weeks. “If that is not successful,” Blanche said they would appeal following the sentencing.
Former President Donald Trump leaves the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York after a jury found him guilty of all 34 felony counts in his hush money trial on Thursday, May 30.
A news board displaying Trump's conviction is seen at Fox News in New York on May 30.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stands with members of his staff at a news conference held following Trump's conviction. "Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor, and that's exactly what we did here," Bragg said, adding that while there are "many voices out there, the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury."
Trump points as he arrives back at Trump Tower in New York after his conviction.
Bystanders try to catch a glimpse of Trump as he enters Trump Tower in New York after his conviction.
People eat and drink while CNN's coverage of the trial plays in the background at Hawk 'n' Dove in Washington, DC.
Trump's son Eric, seen fourth from the right with his fingers interlocked, listens as his dad speaks to the media after the verdict.
Notes are seen under Trump's hands as he awaits court proceedings on Tuesday, May 28.
Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, leaves his apartment building in New York on his way to court on May 13. Cohen testified that Trump directed him to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels leaves Manhattan Criminal Court after testifying on May 9.
Trump sits in the courtroom during his trial on April 22.
New York police officers inspect a backpack after a man lit himself on fire in a park outside the courthouse in Manhattan on April 19.
Trump arrives at court with his legal team ahead of the start of jury selection on April 15.
Demonstrators protest outside of the courthouse on April 15.
Margo Martin, Trump's deputy director of communications, arrives at the courthouse in New York on April 15.
Trump appears with his lawyer Susan Necheles for a pre-trial hearing on March 25.
Trump speaks before entering the courtroom on February 15. "This is not a crime," he told reporters in the courthouse hallway. He added that he'd rather spend his time campaigning than in courtrooms: "We want delays, obviously I'm running for election."
Trump arrives to deliver remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on April 4, 2023. "The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it," he said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a news conference on April 4, 2023. He said "the evidence will show" Trump made false statements "to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election."
Barricades are dismantled after Trump left the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on April 4, 2023.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche, center, leaves the courthouse on April 4, 2023.
Trump sits in a Manhattan courtroom with his defense team on April 4, 2023. He pleaded not guilty that day.
A copy of the unsealed indictment is displayed on April 4, 2023. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts.
Trump walks through the courthouse on April 4, 2023.
Trump's motorcade drives to the courthouse on April 4, 2023.
Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York before heading to the courthouse on April 4, 2023.
US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appears at a rally outside the courthouse on April 4, 2023. When she arrived, Greene told CNN that she was there "to be with the people that have come to peacefully protest." The Republican firebrand from Georgia spoke on a bullhorn for a brief time before departing.
Members of the media gather outside the courthouse on April 4, 2023.
A protester holds a sign outside Trump Tower on April 4, 2023.
Lights are on at Trump Tower, where Trump spent the night, on April 3, 2023.
Trump arrives at Trump Tower on April 3, 2023.
Trump's plane lands at New York's LaGuardia Airport on April 3, 2023.
A television news reporter is seen outside Trump Tower on April 3, 2023.
New York police officers stand near Trump Tower on April 3, 2023.
A man walks past the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on April 3, 2023.
Dan Ray waves an American flag on April 3, 2023, as a plane carrying Trump takes off from the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.
A doorman stands outside of Trump Tower on April 3, 2023.
Police officers view crowds from Trump Tower on April 3, 2023.
Trump supporters cheer as his motorcade passes by in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 3, 2023.
News crews broadcast near Trump Tower on April 3, 2023.
A woman wears a choker necklace that reads "Trump Girl" outside Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on April 2, 2023.
News of Trump's indictment is seen on the front page of The New York Times on March 31, 2023.
Reporters and demonstrators are posted outside Trump Tower after news broke of Trump's indictment on March 30, 2023.
Mary Kelley waves a Trump flag near the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate after he was indicted on March 30, 2023.
Bragg leaves the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse after the grand jury indicted Trump on March 30, 2023. The Manhattan district attorney had remained tight-lipped on the details of the Trump probe, which he inherited from his predecessor, Cy Vance, who began the investigation when Trump was still in the White House.
A person places signs on the ground as anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on March 27, 2023.
Trump speaks with reporters on his plane after he held a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, on March 25, 2023.
Trump leaves after speaking at his rally in Waco on March 25, 2023. Trump, who is running for president again, railed against what he called "prosecutorial misconduct" and denied any wrongdoing amid investigations in New York, Georgia and Washington, DC.
A supporter high-fives a poster at the site of Trump's rally in Waco on March 25, 2023.
Trump's Mar-a-Lago home is seen in Palm Beach on March 23, 2023.
Prosecutors Matt Colangelo, left, and Susan Hoffinger, center, walk outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on March 22, 2023.
An employee is seen behind the counter at the Trump Tower gift shop in New York on March 21, 2023.
Robert Costello, an attorney who has previously represented Trump allies such as Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani, testified before the grand jury in New York for nearly three hours on March 20, 2023, after appearing at the request of the former president's legal team. Costello was expected to offer evidence that contradicted testimony provided by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who admitted to paying $130,000 to Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election to stop her from going public about an alleged affair with the former president. Trump has denied the affair.
Media and protesters are seen outside Bragg's office in New York on March 20, 2023. A couple of days earlier, Trump said in a social media post that he expected to be arrested within days.
Evelyn Knapp walks past a Trump flag that his supporters were flying near his Mar-a-Lago home on March 20, 2023.
Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, speaks to members of the media on March 20, 2023, a couple of days after Trump said he expected to be arrested. "We are here to show that there is support for President Trump in the bluest area in the country, here in Manhattan," Wax said, according to Politico.
Cohen leaves a Manhattan courthouse after testifying before the grand jury on March 13, 2023. "My goal is to tell the truth," Cohen told reporters before testifying. "My goal is to allow Alvin Bragg and his team to do what they need to do. I'm just here to answer the questions."
Trump boards his airplane before flying to Iowa to campaign on March 13, 2023.
In pictures: Trump convicted in hush money case
Moments after Trump was found guilty, Biden said the only way to defeat his GOP rival is at the ballot box, with his campaign stressing the stakes of the 2024 election.
“There’s only one way to keep DonaldTrumpout of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,”Bidenwroteon X, linking to a fundraising page.
His campaign said in a statement that the verdict showed “no one is above the law.”
“The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater,” Michael Tyler, Biden 2024 campaign communications director, said. “A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence — and the American people will reject it this November.”
Trump’s campaign also moved quickly to fundraise off the verdict, casting the case as a “political Witch Hunt trial,” a sentiment the former president’s allies echoed as they rushed to his defense Thursday.
“Today is a shameful day in American history,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X, calling the case “a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Kaanita Iyer, Annie Grayer, Celina Tabor, Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle, and Laura Dolan contributed to this report.
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