January 1, Trump Guilty on All Counts, Unprecedented Consequences Loom

Former President Trump has been found guilty on all counts in a historic and unprecedented criminal trial. He is the first former president of the United States to be convicted of a crime. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Despite pleading not guilty, jurors found the former president guilty on all counts. Each count carries a maximum prison sentence of 4 years, and Trump now faces a maximum sentence of 136 years.

Judge Juan Merchan invited the jury into the courtroom to read its verdict after two days of deliberations. Sentencing for the former president is set for July 11 at 10:00 a.m, just four days before the start of the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

Prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic performer, in the lead-up to the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

After the verdict, Trump immediately spoke to reporters, calling the trial a “disgrace,” “rigged,” and claiming that the case was “done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent.” He vowed to keep fighting and stated that the case is “long from over.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg held a press conference and thanked the jury for their service. He defended his actions, saying, “I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor. And that’s exactly what we did here.”

The Biden campaign reacted to the verdict, stating that the only way to keep Trump out of the Oval Office is “at the ballot box.” Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s “star witness,” celebrated the verdict, saying “today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law.”

During closing arguments, defense attorneys for former President Trump told the jury he is innocent and that Bragg “did not meet the burden of proof. Period.” On the other hand, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass argued that Trump’s intent to defraud “could not be any clearer,” and that all roads lead “inescapably to the man who benefited the most: the defendant, former President Donald Trump.”

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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