On 30 May 2024, former US president and the Republican’s favourite orange man, Donald Trump, broke a record that put the “great” country of America to shame.
Donald Trump is now the first former US president who has been convicted of a felony. This is because he was found guilty of all 34 counts in his hush money trial.
We’ll present you with everything you need to know – from how this began, what the charges are, what his reaction was in court and what we can expect from him soon.
What Were His Charges About?
In 2021, Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, just completed his three-year sentence after pleading guilty to tax evasion and violating campaign finance laws.
Remember this guy’s name – he’s important.
Michael Cohen admitted to the public that he had paid the American adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels US$130,000 back in October 2016.
So what? Why her?
Stormy Daniels had previously come forward saying that Trump was engaging in some sexy time with her in 2006 while he was still married.
This was dangerous to Trump because Ms Daniels’ story might interfere with his 2016 electoral campaign. It was during his campaign’s final weeks that his campaign team had to make sure she didn’t sabo.
So, Mr Cohen decided to wire Ms Daniels US$130,000 for her silence.
Their deal continued to be hush-hush until Cohen asked the Trump Organisation to reimburse the payment he had made to Ms Daniels.
Ultimately, Cohen received a total of US$420,000 from the Trump Organisation through monthly instalments in 2017.
In case you missed it, 2017 was Trump’s first year in the White House.
You see, this was considered a problem in New York. When money is spent to cover up negative information during a political campaign, that money falls under “campaign donations”.
In this case, it is a violation of federal campaign finance law to spend the campaign donations without disclosing what it’s being used for.
According to AP News, upon investigation, it was discovered that this payment was initially recorded as “legal expenses” instead of personal or entertainment expenses. “Legal” because it was paid to his ex-lawyer Cohen.
Simply put, he had kind of recorded the expenses “wrongly”, which is an offence as this isn’t a hawker stall he’s running: it’s a political campaign whereby all expenses must be transparent and proper.
With that, Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
30 May Verdict, Trump Found Guilty
Trump had been on trial for this hush money case since 15 April. He had previously pled not guilty to the 34 felony counts but the verdict on 30 May 2024 changed everything.
He set before the New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan and New York jurors who took a little over nine hours of deliberation, many news outlets say.
One by one, the jury found him guilty of all 34 counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree” involving altered invoices, voucher entries and checks and stubs.
According to The Associated Press (AP News), there was crowd-cheering in the streets of the courthouse when the verdict was revealed.
Trump’s Stone-Cold Reaction
A reporter from BBC News was interviewed about the atmosphere in the courtroom. She described the air as turning “to stone” when the jury read guilty for every one of the 34 counts.
She said that he was motionless and he didn’t make any gestures.
Seems like the man was in shock.
However, after he walked out of the courtroom, Trump didn’t maintain his silence, saying that it was a “rigged, disgraceful trial”.
Sounds familiar?
He also described the 2020 US Elections (where he lost to President Biden) as “rigged”. Someone give him a soundboard.
Other than that, he went on to shift blame, saying that the judge was conflicted and this was part of a political move by the Biden administration.
He also said that he is “a very innocent man”, he “didn’t do a thing wrong” and he is “fighting for the constitution”.
Lastly, he added that the “real verdict” will be in “November by the people” when they vote for him in the elections.
His confidence is definitely commendable.
Judge Juan Merchan set his sentencing for 11 July.
That’s close to the day when Republicans and GOP leaders formally make him their presidential nominee.
It was also reported that they seem to be firm in their support for Trump despite the verdict, and the Constitution doesn’t stop convicted persons from becoming president, so legally, he can still be the next president.
It’s not just them that are a bit “delulu”. His supporters also believe that he still has a chance to become president and this would not sway the vote.
I mean, why would it? They have turned a blind eye to many of his controversies. Remember, he had been impeached twice, has allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, has allegations of conspiring to overturn elections and three other felony indictments.
Biden’s campaign communications director seized the opportunity to kick Trump while he was already down.
“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law”, Michael Tyler said.
“Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain.”
Yikes.