Trump Found Guilty On All 34 Counts In Porn Star Hush Money Trial
Featured, Latest Headlines, U.S./Canada, World News Thursday, May 30th, 2024
(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Donald Trump has now become the first ex- U.S. president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
After two days of deliberation, the 12-member jury unanimously pronounced Trump guilty on all 34 counts he faced.
Reports say Trump watched the jurors dispassionately as they were polled to confirm the unanimous verdict.
Justice Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for president ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Trump faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison, though others convicted of that crime often receive shorter sentences, fines or probation. Incarceration would not prevent him from campaigning, or taking office if he were to win.
He will not be jailed ahead of sentencing too.
The jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business documents after sitting through a five-week courtroom presentation that featured explicit testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006 while he was married to his current wife Melania. Trump denies ever having sex with Daniels.
Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen testified that Trump approved a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 election, when he faced multiple accusations of sexual misbehavior.
Cohen testified that he handled the payment, and that Trump approved a plan to reimburse him through monthly payments disguised as legal work.
Trump’s lawyers hammered Cohen’s credibility, highlighting his criminal record and imprisonment and his history of lying. Merchan also cautioned jurors to examine his testimony carefully./Reuters
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