Trump Found Guilty in Felony Hush Money Case

Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead. Photo is in the Public Domain.

Guilty on 34 counts.

Late Thursday afternoon, a New York jury ruled former President Donald Trump was guilty of all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up an affair during his 2016 presidential bid. He is now the first former U.S. president found guilty of a felony.

He is set to be sentenced July 11, four days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, and the sentence could include prison time or probation. Trump is expected to appeal the verdict and can still run for president with a felony conviction.

In a lengthy statement, Trump called the verdict a “disgrace” and said voters would render the “real verdict” in the November election.

Wisconsin politicians were among those nationally to quickly react to the verdict shortly after it came down.

Congressman Mark Pocan, a Democrat, tweeted a meme of Seth Meyers that said “guilty as hell.” Republican Senator Ron Johnson tweeted that it was a “travesty of justice” and “how can this not be considered the most egregious example of election interface?”

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin said Trump had his day in court and that “no one, including a former president, is above the law.” Congresswoman Gwen Moore, a Democrat, said” “I have trust in the justice system and know that the members of the jury followed the evidence and made their decision accordingly. Justice was served,” in a statement.”

Robin Vos, the Republican State Assembly Speaker who has been a target of Trump and his supporter, issued a statement in support of Trump. “This is a sad day for America. Today’s verdict is so politically motivated that it should surprise no one that conservatives everywhere, who typically revere the rule of law, have now completely lost faith in their justice system for fear of political persecution for the ‘crime’ of being Republican,” said Vos.

The Trump campaign was also quickly using the jury’s determination as a fundraising plea.

Trump still faces three other criminal cases: a federal case in South Florida regarding his handling of classified materials after he left office, a federal case in Washington D.C. for his role in an alleged plot to subvert the 2020 election results and a state case in Georgia for his alleged attempt to overturn the election results in the state.

None of those cases appear likely to go to trial before November, but it has not been entirely ruled out. The Washington D.C. currently hinges on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that is expected in the coming weeks.

Each of the 34 counts ruled on Thursday was tied to a business record used to facilitate payments in 2016 to porn actress Stormy Daniels for her silence stemming from an alleged 2006 sexual encounter. The jury found that Trump authorized a scheme to reimburse his attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to Daniels by spreading payments over the course of a year to appear as standard legal expenses to flout federal campaign finance laws, unlawfully influence the 2016 election and commit tax fraud. Cohen, in 2018, pled guilty to his role in the scheme and was sentenced to three years in prison.