A New York jury on Thursday convicted former U.S. President Donald Trump of illegally trying to influence the outcome of the 2016 election that sent him to the White House, unanimously finding him guilty on all of the 34 felony charges he faced.
The 12-member jury deliberated for two days before returning the verdict against Trump, 77, in the first-ever criminal trial of an American president.
Trump is the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee in the November election against President Joe Biden, the Democrat who defeated him in the 2020 election. But Trump now also faces the possibility of being placed on probation or imprisoned for up to four years.
Trump’s sentencing was set for July 11, in the middle of his campaign to return to the White House and just days before the opening of the Republican National Convention on July 15, where he would be formally nominated as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche asked that the verdict be overturned, but New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan quickly rejected his request.
Inside the courtroom, Trump showed little emotion as he learned his fate. But when he emerged from the courtroom, with his jaw tensed, he told reporters that the verdict was “a disgrace.”
With a somber expression, he vowed, “This is long from over.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump said in all caps, “My civil rights have been totally violated with this highly political, unconstitutional, and election interfering witch hunt. Our failing nation is being laughed at all over the world!”
Just after the verdict was announced, the Trump campaign sent out a fundraising email in which the former president said, again in all capital letters, “I am a political prisoner!”
From the start of the trial in mid-April, Trump had treated the case with disdain, disparaging prospective witnesses against him despite Merchan’s gag order prohibiting him from doing so. Merchan found Trump in contempt of court 10 times and fined him $10,000, which the judge acknowledged was a pittance for a billionaire like Trump.
