A New York jury has found former President Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. This is the first time a former US president has been convicted of a crime. He has been on trial since April 15, 2024. He pleaded not guilty to falsifying the records related to a hush money payment that was made by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the last weeks of the 2016 presidential election. The final verdict in Trump's case was decided on May 30, 2024.
The jury reached the verdict after 9 1/2 hours of deliberations. “You gave this matter the attention it deserved, and I want to thank you for that,” Judge Juan Merchan told them.
Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, made a motion for acquittal once the jury left the room. However, the judge denied it. "The law is the law and it applies to everyone equally," Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the jury in his closing arguments. "There is no special standard for this defendant. You, the jury, have the ability to hold the defendant accountable."
More from LittleThings: Stormy Daniels Claims In New Documentary That Donald Trump Cornered Her The Night They Met
Prosecutors argued that the disguised payment to Cohen was part of a “planned, coordinated long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures, to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior, using doctored corporate records and bank forms to conceal those payments along the way.” During his opening statement, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said, "It was election fraud. Pure and simple."
