A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying company data, a historic verdict in the first ever criminal trial against a former US president. This is Yahoo News’ brief update on the criminal and civil cases against Trump. Here are the latest developments.
🚨 What happened today
At the end of the second day of deliberations, a New York jury hearing the case brought against Trump by District Attorney Alvin Bragg informed the judge Juan Merchan that a judgment had been reached. Read out in the Lower Manhattan courtroom as Trump and Bragg looked on, the jury found the former president guilty of all charges. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee responded to the verdict by promising to fight what he said was a “rigged” trial against him.
🔬Zoom in
Jury starts the day by reading testimonies: Day two of deliberations began with the jury back in the courtroom. They had asked the judge to have some witness statements read aloud (jurors can take notes during a trial, but cannot make recordings). Tellingly, some of that testimony related to an August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower between former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and Trump. This was the meeting at which Cohen and Pecker testified that the three men devised a plan to prevent negative stories from appearing in order to help Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Merchan also reiterated his instructions to jurors on how to reach a verdict in the case.
Waiting game: After the jury left the courtroom to continue deliberations, Trump returned to a waiting area in the courthouse, where he was joined by his sons. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. In a post on his social media network while the jury was in session, Trump claimed Pecker’s testimony exonerated him.
“Testimonials conclusively showed that I clearly said, ‘I DO NOT BUY STORIES!’ – Not that there would be anything wrong with doing that – NDAs are PERFECTLY LEGAL AND COMMON!” Trump wrote.
The verdict: As the hours passed, it appeared the jury might be excused Thursday without reaching a verdict. Merchan said he would excuse the jury at 4:30 PM ET if they had not reached a verdict. Moments later, however, Merchan informed the courtroom that the jury had indeed reached a verdict. “Please let there be no reactions, no outbursts of any kind,” the judge told the courtroom audience before the jury was seated again.
The jurors, whose identities Merchan wanted to keep anonymous, voted unanimously that Trump was guilty of 34 counts of falsifying company records.
“I would like to personally thank you for your service,” Merchan told the jury after the verdicts were read.
First reactions: Trump, who expressed outrage at his indictment during the trial, did so again outside the courthouse. “We will keep fighting, we will fight until the end and we will win because our country has gone to hell,” he said.
The Trump campaign sent an email that quoted Trump saying, “I am a political prisoner!” while also asking for money.
Bragg posted a message to
Cohen released his own statement saying: “Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law. Although it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”
The Biden campaign also saw fit to comment on the outcome of the trial.
“There’s still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: through the ballot box,” Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, told the New York Times. “Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”
🗓 What’s next?
Trump will be sentenced on July 11. His lawyers have vowed to appeal the guilty verdicts, a process that could drag on for several months. The maximum possible sentence, to be determined by Merchan, would be four years in prison, but the judge could also simply fine the former president and release him on parole. Trump announced he will hold a press conference on the trial at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.
