Donald Trump found guilty in hush money case – becoming first ex-president to be criminally convicted
Donald Trump has become the first former US president to be criminally convicted.
In a historic decision, a New York jury has found him guilty of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
He was found guilty of all 34 counts he faced. Unanimity was required for any verdict.
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Trump found guilty on all counts
The former president is set to be sentenced on 11 July – days before the start of the Republican National Convention on 15 July where Trump is expected to be formally nominated for president.
The verdicts plunge the country into unexplored territory ahead of the election on 5 November as opinion polls show Trump and Joe Biden locked in a tight race for the White House.
Trump faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison, though others convicted of the same crime often receive shorter sentences, fines or probation.
Read more:
Can Trump still run for president?
Seven things that helped convict him
Trump pumps a fist outside Trump Tower after the verdicts. Pic: Reuters
Speaking outside the court, Trump said the conviction was a “disgrace” and that he is “a very innocent man”.
He said the trial was “rigged” and that the judge was “conflicted” and “should never have been allowed to try this case”.
“This is long from over,” Trump added.
After the conviction he travelled in a convoy of black jeeps to dinner in New York City.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Joe Biden said in a statement: “No one is above the law.”
“Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain,” said Michael Tyler, the Biden-Harris campaign’s communications director.
“The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater. He is running an increasingly unhinged campaign of revenge and retribution, pledging to be a dictator ‘on day one’ and calling for our Constitution to be ‘terminated’ so he can regain and keep power,” he added.
“A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November.”
Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts against him
Alvin Bragg, the New York district attorney who brought the case against Trump, said in a press conference after the verdicts that his team “followed the facts and the law without fear or favour”.
He thanked the NYPD, court staff and the jury, saying the latter was “careful and attentive”.
“I feel a deep gratitude to work alongside them to be a part of this system,” he said.
“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict, in the same manner as every other case,” Mr Bragg added.
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Trump calls guilty verdicts ‘a disgrace’
Meanwhile, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and a key witness in the trial, said: “Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law.
“While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”
He also posted on X celebrating the verdicts.
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How hush money trial unfolded
The case against Trump
Trump was at the centre of a scheme to cover up “hush money” payments to buy the silence of a porn star in the days before the 2016 election.
When revelations by Stormy Daniels of a sexual liaison with Trump threatened to upend his presidential campaign, he directed his lawyer to pay her $130,000 (£102,000) to keep her quiet.
The payment buried the story, and Trump was later elected to be the 45th president of the United States.
Trump watched the jurors dispassionately as they were polled to confirm the guilty verdict. They had deliberated for nine-and-a-half hours.
Judge Juan Merchan thanked the jurors for their service, saying: “Nobody can make you do anything you don’t want to do. The choice is yours.” Jurors are now free to speak about the trial.
Both supporters and protesters gathered outside and could be heard in the hallway on the 15th floor of the courthouse, where the case had been heard.
Anti-Trump demonstrators hold placards outside the court. Pic: Reuters
Trump supporters outside court. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
The five-week trial in the Manhattan Criminal Court heard how the backdrop to the crime was a scandal in the Trump campaign a month before the 2016 election.
A video tape from the TV show Access Hollywood was made public, in which Trump was caught on a microphone talking in lewd terms about groping women (“When you’re a star they let you do it, grab them by the p***y. You can do anything.”)
The trial heard how it was viewed as a “crisis” within Team Trump and that the campaign was soon facing another.
Ms Daniels, an adult film actor, claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006.
Fast-forward 10 years and, as he ran for office, she was hawking her story.
The details, as heard in this trial, were that she had met Trump at a golf tournament, and he had invited her to dinner.
Stormy Daniels in Manhattan in 2018. Pic: AP
She arrived at his hotel suite to find him dressed in satin pyjamas, until she asked him to change.
At one point, he produced a magazine, and she told the court she spanked him “right on the butt”.
Later, she emerged from the bathroom to find him lying on the bed in a T-shirt and boxer shorts, and they ended up having sex.
Trump denies the liaison took place.
‘Catch and kill’
Her plan to sell her story was communicated to Trump by David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer magazine.
He was a friend of Trump and operated a “catch and kill” scheme on his behalf, to catch negative stories and kill them before they could be published.
He’d already paid $150,000 (£117,000) to silence Karen McDougal, a Playboy model with a story of a 10-month affair with Trump.
David Pecker promised to stop negative stories about Trump being published. Pic: Reuters
Trump also denies that affair ever took place.
Mr Pecker told the court he’d attended a meeting at Trump Tower, New York, in August 2015 with Trump and Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer and fixer.
At the meeting, Mr Pecker told Trump he’d be his “eyes and ears”.
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Michael Cohen testified that, upon learning that Ms Daniels planned to sell her story, Trump told him: “This is a disaster, a total disaster. Women are going to hate me.
“This is really a disaster. Women will hate me. Guys, they think it’s cool. But this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”
Michael Cohen said he paid the hush money at Trump’s direction. Pic: Reuters
Subsequently, Cohen paid Ms Daniels $130,000 (£102,000) to buy and bury the story.
Critically, he testified that he did so at Trump’s direction, placing the former president at the heart of the conspiracy.
Paying hush money isn’t illegal – the crime was the way in which Trump reimbursed his ‘Mr Fix-It’ and the reason the money was paid.
After Trump was elected president, he repaid Cohen $420,000 (£329,000) which accounted for the $130,000 (£102,000) and other payments and bonuses, “grossed up” to account for tax liability.
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What happens next for Donald Trump?
The repayment was made in a series of cheques, which were recorded as legal expenses.
That was the crime – the falsification of business records, aggravated by the reason for it – the effort to conceal from voters a negative story that could have harmed Trump’s election chances.
In the words of the prosecution, it was “a planned, coordinated, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election”.
US
Well-fitted suits, pearls and ‘the same’ red tie: What Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s fashion tells us about them
The style choices of politicians have long been scrutinised by voters and the media.
Women have historically been subject to more inspection for their looks than men.
But all politicians are communicating through their style, according to two experts.
“We receive most of our information, many of us, through screens and through the visuals,” says Hazel Clark, professor of design and fashion at the Parsons School of Design in New York.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been leaning into trouser suits.
Ms Harris arrives to board Air Force Two in New York. Pic: AP
Ms Harris during a debate with Mr Trump. Pic: AP
“The well-fitted suit, the more masculine suit, is telling voters that she is not a politician’s wife, she is not the president’s wife, she is the president,” says Deirdre Clemente, professor of history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
She wore a dark suit to make her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The presidential hopeful wore a dark suit to make her acceptance speech at the DNC. Pic: AP
The look “gives that sense of the legal profession, judges and authority. I think it was just saying ‘I’m here to be taken seriously, I can be your leader’,” says Ms Clark.
Many of the audience were wearing white, thought to be a reference to the suffragettes, who fought for women to have vote.
Many DNC audience members wore white as Kamala Harris made her acceptance speech. Pic: Reuters
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris wore a dark navy or black suit to make her acceptance speech at the DNC. Pic: Reuters
“I think there’s a lot of weight in the choice of white in the audience of the DNC that night and her choice of a black suit was a power move,” Ms Clemente said.
Donald Trump has had a consistent style for many years – he’s known for his dark blue suit and silky red tie.
Donald Trump at his 2017 inauguration. Pic: AP
Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate with vice president Kamala Harris. Pic: AP
“He seems to have been wearing the same red tie since the 1970s. It seems to have gotten longer,” said Ms Clemente.
“It is his way of projecting power, confidence and stability.”
And his vice presidential pick JD Vance seems to have adapted his style to match.
Donald Trump with Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance at the Republican National Convention. Pic: AP
“It’s putting on a uniform to say we are all one, we are all following this person. I think sameness, perhaps, with the party as well,” said Ms Clark.
“With Trump it’s almost become like a costume now.”
Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have been seen wearing similar clothing. Pic: Reuters
Harris often wears a pearl necklace, a reference to her college sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded by black women at Howard University.
Kamala Harris wearing a pearl necklace in 2010. Pic: AP
“Her wearing of the necklace is absolutely a shout-out to all the women who have supported her and that sorority is central to that,” said Ms Clemente.
The vice president is also known for her love of Converse shoes.
Vice president Kamala Harris wearing Converse shoes as she arrives to speak at a campaign event. Pic: AP
The trainers, which are associated with American basketball culture, “are a powerful cultural tool because what she’s saying is these shoes are just like the ones you have in your closet”.
Vice president Kamala Harris speaks on the final day of the Democratic National Convention. Pic: AP
Mr Trump and his supporters often wear the instantly recognisable red Make America Great Again baseball cap.
“The MAGA hat has an incredible amount of power, especially here in battleground states,” said Ms Clemente. “You see MAGA hats all around.”
Donald Trump wearing a red MAGA hat in 2016 in Arizona. Pic: AP
Baseball caps are “ubiquitous in being used to signify something, it’s like having a slogan on your t-shirt”, says Ms Clark.
One accessory all US politicians are rarely seen without is an American flag pin badge on their lapel, which can be used to show patriotism.
It may also project a message that “we are all fighting for the same team” despite political differences, said Ms Clemente.
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