On Thursday (May 30), Donald Trump became the first US president to be convicted of a crime. A New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Prosecutors say Trump wrongly and illegally classified reimbursements from former attorney Michael Cohen to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Cohen paid Daniels to stay silent about her alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election.
The hush money trial began in April. This is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial.
“It’s a disgrace,” Trump said. “This was a rigged trial, conducted by a corrupt and conflicted judge…The real verdict will be delivered by the people on November 5th. They know what happened here. Everybody knows what happened here . you have one [George] The Soros-backed DA and the whole thing – we didn’t do anything wrong. I am a very innocent person. It doesn’t matter. I’m fighting for our country.
He added: “The Biden administration is doing this to hurt opponents, political opponents. I think it’s just a disgrace. We will continue to fight. We will continue to fight to the end and we will win because our country has gone to hell. We It’s not the same country anymore.
Trump, who is running for president, faces up to four years in prison on each count of falsifying business records. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
Judge Juan Melchan will be responsible for sentencing. If Trump goes to jail, he may serve time on each count concurrently.
Trump is awaiting trial in three other criminal cases. Two of the cases related to electoral interference. Another related to his mishandling of confidential documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
