Donald Trump found guilty in hush money case – becoming first ex-president to be criminally convicted

Published

1 year ago

May 31, 2024

admin

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.

Follow live:
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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.”

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.

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

More than 160 people still missing after deadly Texas floods

Published

5 hours ago

July 9, 2025

admin

More than 160 people still missing after deadly Texas floods

There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.

He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.

At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.

The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.

The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.

Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.

Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.

Camp Mystic

Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.

The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.

Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.

There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.

Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.

Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.

‘Everything looked flooded and broken’

One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.

“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”

She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.

Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.

“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”

Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.

Political row

Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.

Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.

Wall of water

The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.

The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.

Some survivors were found clinging to trees.

Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.

US

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentencing hearing confirmed

Published

5 hours ago

July 9, 2025

admin

Sean 'Diddy' Combs sentencing hearing confirmed

The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.

Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.

The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.

After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.

Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.

Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.

During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.

Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.

Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.

In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.

“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.

Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.

Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.

US

Why has Trump U-turned over Ukraine?

Published

5 hours ago

July 9, 2025

admin

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Donald Trump has said, again, that he is “not happy” with Vladimir Putin.

In an extraordinary cabinet meeting, the US president criticised his Russian counterpart, and announced he had approved sending defensive weapons to Ukraine.

After weeks of rejecting Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for defence support – why the sudden change of tact? Is Trump’s relationship with Putin fraying?

And what’s the latest as Trump hosts Benjamin Netanyahu again, a day after the Israeli prime minister announced he had nominated the US leader for the Nobel Peace Prize.

What next in hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza? Tariffs are also back. Trump announces more… and more.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.