Donald Trump has been found guilty on all counts at his hush money trial, becoming the first criminally convicted US president in history.
He sat emotionless as the jury convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election. Ms Daniels says that they had a sexual encounter in 2006, which Trump denies.
Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in the 2024 race, is the first convicted felon to run for the White House.
“I am a very innocent man,” Trump said in the hallway of the courthouse after the verdict was read. He railed against the trial calling it “rigged” and “a disgrace”, before saying that the “country was going to hell”.
The jury of 12 New Yorkers deliberated for approximately 10 hours at the Manhattan court before handing down the verdict.
Trump will return to Manhattan criminal court on July 11th for sentencing.
Alex Woodward is covering the trial for The Independent live from court.
Former Manhattan DA says conviction is a ‘big win’
Duncan Levin, former Manhattan District Attorney told The Independent via text that Donald Trump’s historic conviction was a “big win” for the prosecution.
“The District Attorney’s Office put in a thorough case that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Trump engaged in a conspiracy with David Pecker and Michael Cohen and others to promote his election unlawfully with hush money payments and then took steps to cover that up with false records,” Mr Levin said.
“The case was deeply corroborated, with testimony not built around one person but with texts and emails and phone records. The prosecution case was methodical, and the jury clearly paid attention.
“The defendant did everything he could to undermine the administration of justice, engaged in criminal contempt on ten occasions, and yet the system still gave him a trial that was fundamentally fair. That is a big win for the prosecution, which brought the case in the name of the People of the State of New York.”
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 23:20
Tucker Carlson: ‘Trump will win election, if he’s not killed first’
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 23:15
Michael Cohen: ‘The truth always matters’
Trump trial Michael Cohen told The Independent via text: “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. I want to thank my attorneys Danya Perry and Joshua Kolb for their invaluable guidance and support throughout this process.”
Cohen, Trump’s former “fixer”, was one of several key witnesses in the historic criminal hush money trial.
![Trump Hush Money Explainer](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/05/27/14/Trump_Hush_Money_Explainer_04588.jpg)
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 23:13
Donald Trump rails against ‘disgrace’ verdict – and rages the US ‘has gone to hell…is a nation in decline’
Donald Trump had a lot to say following the verdict in his historic criminal hush money trial, which concluded on Thursday with a conviction.
Read more here from Ariana Baio:
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 23:10
What prison sentence could Trump face following guilty conviction in hush money trial?
The former US president is due to be sentenced on July 11.
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 23:06
Crowds surprisingly muted outside following Trump verdict
From The Independent’s Alex Woodward, live on the scene: “The crowd outside the court isn’t shouting, popping Champagne or otherwise rallying. They’re here for history.
“The press was quickly run out of the courtroom and forced off the sidewalk in front of the court. We were penned to the sidewalk across the street in front of the park.
“Trump’s motorcade is excepted to pass through.”
![Crowds gather outside the Manhattan courthouse moments after Donald Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/05/30/23/IMG_7016.jpg)
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 23:01
Michael Cohen celebrates guilty verdict in Trump trial
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer-turned key witness in the historic trial, has celebrated the news of his ex-boss’ historic conviction.
Cohen gave testimony in the Manhattan trial alongside adult film star Stormy Daniels, who he paid $130,000 in hush money payments to conceal stories about an alleged affair she had had with Trump.
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 22:49
Biden-Harris campaign statement following Trump verdict
The Biden-Harris campaign released a statement following Donald Trump’s historic guilty verdict, saying that the convicted former president must now be defeated “at the ballot box”.
The statement from comms director Michael Tyler read: “In New York today, we saw that 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. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality.
“There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.
“Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. 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.
“A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November.”
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 22:44
Donald Trump Jr is not happy with the verdict…
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 22:40
Rudy Giuliani ‘unsurprised’ by Trump verdict
Rudy Giuliani has been quick to enter the fray, telling viewers of a livestreaming: “[The verdict] is not a surprise to me”.
“This city has been politically corrupt for most of the past 150 years… You knew on day one Trump was going to be convicted.”
Giuliani himself was United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1983 until 1989.
On his livestream he also claimed that Steve Bannon is going to be “framed” next.
Mike Bedigan30 May 2024 22:38