Former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money trial related to a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The verdict, delivered by a Manhattan jury on Thursday, marks a historic moment as Trump becomes the first former president in US history to be convicted of a felony.
The 34 counts against Trump were detailed in the courtroom, stemming from 11 invoices, 12 vouchers, and 11 counts involving his former personal lawyer, who facilitated the $130,000 payment to Daniels.
The charges revolved around falsifying business records to conceal this payment in exchange for Daniels’ silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump has consistently denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors further accused Trump of participating in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and engaging in an unlawful plan to suppress negative information about Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, filed a motion for acquittal, which was denied by the presiding judge, Juan Merchan. In response to the verdict, Trump labeled the trial a “disgrace” and a “rigged trial,” attributing it to political motives by the Biden administration aimed at damaging a political opponent.
“We’ll keep fighting; we’ll fight till the end, and we’ll win because our country’s gone to hell,” Trump declared.
“This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. We don’t have the same country anymore; we have a divided mess. We will fight for our Constitution. This is long from over.”
Judge Merchan has scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 11.
