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Donald Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential campaign Thursday in a historic trial that saw a former U.S. president face criminal charges for the first time.A New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts, related to a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The prosecution had alleged Daniels was paid to keep secret a 2006 tryst she had with Trump in order to influence the results of the 2016 election, which Trump ultimately won.
The trial lasted a month and a half and was plenty eventful. In addition to the fiery testimonies of Daniels and Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump was held in contempt of court 10 times and fined $10,000 for violating a gag order against attacking people involved with the trial. Many Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, traveled to New York to speak out in support of the 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
Trump, who did not testify in his defense, has yet to be sentenced in the case and is likely to appeal the verdict. The result may have an impact on Trump’s chances to reclaim the White House, however. Recent Yahoo News/YouGov polling suggested a conviction would hurt Trump in head-to-head polling against President Joe Biden.
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Trump supporters await a verdict outside the courthouse
Trump supporters gathered outside of Manhattan criminal court on Thursday as the jury continues to deliberate in the former president’s historic criminal case in which prosecutors allege he covered up hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Photos from the scene in lower Manhattan show pro-Trump supporters waving flags and wearing MAGA gear.
Trump supporters outside Manhattan criminal court on Thursday. (Mike Segar/Reuters) (REUTERS) A devout Christian shows his support for Donald Trump. (Julia Nikhinson/AP) (AP) A demonstrator at the courthouse sports “Trump 2024” sneakers. (Julia Nikhinson/AP) (AP) -
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Even if convicted, Trump is unlikely to go to jail anytime soon
Trump arriving at Manhattan criminal court on Wednesday. (Doug Mills/Pool via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) As we await the jury’s verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, it’s worth remembering that even if he is convicted, he is unlikely to be sent to jail anytime soon.
Throughout the course of the trial, Trump has been free on bail. If he is found guilty, there’s little reason to believe Judge Juan Merchan would change that status ahead of handing down Trump’s sentence, especially given the fact that this would be the 77-year-old’s first felony offense.
In the event of a guilty plea, Merchan will have to decide whether to fine Trump, put him on probation or supervision or sentence him to prison. The maximum sentence for the felonies Trump is charged with is four years.
Trump would almost certainly appeal a guilty verdict and that process could take months or years to play out, possibly further delaying the possibility that he would ever spend time behind bars.
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Trump’s supporters vent anger over judge’s jury instructions
Judge Juan Merchan as seen in a courtroom sketch on Thursday. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters) (REUTERS / Reuters) Supporters of former President Donald Trump, many of them commentators on right wing news outlets like Fox News and Newsmax, have taken issue with the instructions Judge Juan Merchan gave to the jury, sometimes falsely claiming that the judge is allowing them to convict Trump without coming to a unanimous decision.
On Wednesday, Fox News host Jesse Waters proclaimed that Merchan had told the jury they “can pick whatever crime they want, and they can all disagree on the crime and it’s still a unanimous decision. … It’s like a buffet!”
Fox News co-host Jeanine Pirro, a former judge, said his jury instructions were “unheard of.”
But in his remarks to the jury, much of which he repeated on Thursday, Merchan told jurors that they “must conclude unanimously that a defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means.” What he did leave partially open to interpretation, however, was the specific means jurors could conclude Trump had used when he carried out his alleged conspiracy.
While falsifying business records is usually a misdemeanor charge, it rises to a felony when the false reporting is done in furtherance of another crime. In this case, the judge told the jurors that while they needed unanimous agreement that a second crime had been committed, they could choose from one of three options: violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act, the falsification of other business records or the violation of tax laws.
Because Trump is not specifically charged with those crimes, jurors do not have to vote unanimously on them. Instead, he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to the $130,000 hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. For those charges, the jury must vote unanimously.
University of Texas law professor Lee Kovarsky explained the judge’s instructions to the jury this way:
“If a law says NO VEHICLES IN THE PARK & list of vehicles includes mopeds and motorcycles, all the instruction means is that you need unanimous conclusion of vehicle but not unanimous on whether vehicle was moped or harley,” he wrote in a post on X.
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Why the names of the jurors in the trial have been kept anonymous
Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan criminal court in New York on Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford/Pool via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) It is now up to a New York jury to determine whether former President Donald Trump is guilty on 34 felony counts brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, but the public may never learn the identities of those who will make that decision.
That’s because Judge Juan Merchan ruled in March that their names would be revealed to the lawyers in the case but, out of safety concerns, not be made public.
Anonymous juries are somewhat rare in the U.S. Out of more than 100,000 jury trials in the country, just about a dozen a year keep the identities of jurors hidden from the public, USA Today reported in 2021.
Read more from Yahoo News.
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Trump exits the courtroom
Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom as the jury in his criminal trial continues to deliberate at New York State Supreme Court in New York. (Justin Lane/Pool via Reuters) (via REUTERS) Following the read-back of testimony requested by the jury and their exit to continue deliberations, Trump, his legal team and some of his closest confidants also left the courtroom, heading to a holding room where they will have to wait to see what comes next.
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Portions of David Pecker’s testimony read to the jury
David Pecker, in this courtroom sketch. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters) (REUTERS / Reuters) Court stenographers are rereading portions of testimony from David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher. Here’s what he said when he took the stand during the trial:
- Pecker revealed a 2015 plan he reached with Trump to assist his presidential campaign
- The National Enquirer published negative stories about Trump’s rivals that were fed to the publication by members of Trump’s team
- The publication would buy the rights to a story to ensure it wouldn’t be published, in an arrangement known as “catch and kill”
- Pecker spent $30,000 on a story that was ultimately fake because of the potential embarrassment it could’ve caused Trump
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Court behind the scenes
Trump sits in the courtroom on Thursday morning. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via Reuters) (via REUTERS / Reuters) Cameras are not allowed in court, but photographers are given a small window (less than a minute) each morning to take photos of Donald Trump once he enters the room.
Yahoo News’ David Artavia spoke to Spencer Platt of Getty Images about what that moment is like.
“It’s kind of weird and awkward too, because the court gets really quiet. It’s just the sound of cameras and jostling photographers. You can hear a pin drop,” Platt said.
Read more on the process of photographing Trump in his historic trial each morning here.
Mark Peterson/Pool via Reuters (via REUTERS) -
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Trump’s lawyers hoping for lengthy deliberations, hung jury: ABC News
Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. (Seth Wenig/Pool via AP) (AP) As day one of jury deliberations wrapped up yesterday, Donald Trump’s lawyers were reportedly happy court was dismissed without a verdict. Sources told ABC News that Trump’s legal team believes the longer jurors deliberate, the more likely the case would lead to a hung jury.
One person close to Trump’s defense told the outlet: “We want chaos … we want evidence of strong disagreements.”
ABC News reports:
While it wouldn’t be surprising to Trump’s team for there to be a verdict Thursday, their hope is that deliberations will extend into next week as an indication there could be serious doubts among jury members that could result in a hung jury, the sources said.
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Pro-Trump supporters and protesters clash outside courthouse
Trump supporters and protesters clashed outside of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Wednesday as the jury began deliberations inside on whether the former president is guilty of covering up hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Pro-Trump supporters were pictured holding “Trump 2024” flags, while one protester held a sign that read: “Justice matters.”
Demonstrators clash as they wait for a verdict outside of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Wednesday. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) Demonstrators clash outside the courthouse. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) Pro-Trump demonstrators confront an opposing group. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) -
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Supreme Court Justice Alito tells Democratic senators he won’t recuse himself from Trump cases
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) While the jury in Trump’s hush money trial began their deliberations, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made clear that he has no intention of recusing himself from decisions that will affect separate criminal cases involving the former president.
Alito sent a letter Wednesday to Democratic senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, both of whom asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to ensure Alito recuses himself in any case relating to the 2020 election, informing them that he would do no such thing.
Durbin and Whitehouse had cited a flag controversy as grounds for Alito’s recusal from matters before the Supreme Court, such as whether presidential immunity protects Trump from being prosecuted for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results.
While Alito acknowledged that his wife had flown flags associated with the pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” campaign, he said that that fact did not justify his recusal.
“A reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that this event does not meet the standards for recusal,” Alito wrote in his letter. “I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request.”
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The post БОМБА ОД САД: ТРАМП ОСУДЕН ЗА ВИНОВЕН ЗА СИТЕ 34 ОБВИНЕНИЈА ЗА НЕЛЕГАЛНОТО ПЛАЌАЊЕ НА ПОРНО АКТЕРКАТА СТОРМИ ДАНИЕЛС appeared first on МАКТЕЛ.
