Donald Trump Found Guilty on All Counts in Historic Criminal Trial, Making Him a Convicted Felon
A first-of-its-kind conviction could lead to an equally unprecedented sentencing as the former president faces possible prison time for falsifying business records to conceal other crimes
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Donald Trump, pictured in the Manhattan criminal court on May 21, 2024, was charged with 34 felony counts of falsified business recordsDonald Trump is now a convicted felon after a jury delivered a guilty verdict in his historic criminal trial on Thursday, May 30.
The former president, who spent the last six-plus weeks in a Manhattan courtroom, was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The jury that determined Trump's fate comprised seven men and five women representing a variety of backgrounds and ideologies. The group deliberated for two days before reaching their decision.
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Donald Trump, pictured in the Manhattan criminal court on May 21, 2024, was charged with 34 felony counts of falsified business recordsPrior to the verdict reading, New York Judge Juan Merchan addressed the courtroom, saying, “Please let there be no reactions, no outbursts of any kind."
Trump and his team, who were smiling moments before the jury announced they had come to a conclusion, grew suddenly serious at the news, according to multiple reporters in the room.
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Donald Trump returns from a break on the first day of his Manhattan criminal trial on April 15, 2024Many had braced for a hung jury — which happens if jurors fail to unanimously agree on a verdict — given the likelihood that at least one person on the panel would refuse to turn against the Republican presidential candidate. In the event of a hung jury, a mistrial would have been declared and Trump's charges would remain in limbo, which would be considered a victory for the former president.
With a jury conviction, Trump's claims of a baseless criminal case were rejected — and he now faces up to four years in prison. As a first-time offender of a non-violent offense, he is likely to get off easy with probation and a fine, but sentencing is ultimately at the discretion of Merchan, with whom Trump has repeatedly sparred.
Related: N.Y.C. Mayor Eric Adams Says Rikers Island Will 'Be Ready' if Donald Trump Gets Jail Time
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A courtroom sketch shows Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan listening as the defense grills Stormy Daniels on May 7, 2024The Manhattan District Attorney's Office brought an unprecedented case against Trump that aimed to prove he not only falsified financial records "with intent to defraud" — in this instance, to mask a $130,000 hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels in the final days of his 2016 presidential election — but that he did so in order to conceal a second crime, which elevates the charges from misdemeanors to felonies.
In falsifying the records, the DA's office argued, Trump was more broadly attempting to bury evidence of an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.
Prosecutors provided jurors with strong evidence of falsified business records, but proving that they could be attributed to Trump and charged as felonies was more difficult, relying heavily on witness testimony to shed light on the former president's involvement and intentions.
The defense argued that prosecutors' primary witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, could not be trusted to tell the truth, attempting to place doubt in the jurors' minds.
Related: MSNBC's Ari Melber on What's at Stake in Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial (Exclusive)
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Michael Cohen leaves his apartment to testify at the Manhattan criminal courthouse on May 14, 2024Colloquially called Trump's "hush money" trial, given that Daniels' hush money payment anchored the narrative, the Manhattan case went far beyond white-collar crime. It was the first of four criminal cases brought against the former president in 2023 — three of which hit on themes of election interference.
Through hard evidence and exhaustive witness testimony, Manhattan prosecutors painted a portrait of a former reality TV star who unlawfully tilted the 2016 presidential election in his favor by conspiring with powerful friends to suppress information from voters.
Jurors' guilty verdict signals that — beyond a reasonable doubt — the evidence presented to them supported the prosecution's story.
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Trump's sentencing is scheduled for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention begins. He is expected to appeal the conviction.
The former president's remaining three criminal cases continue to face court delays and are unlikely to go to trial before the November election.
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