US: Trump Found Guilty on All Counts in Hush Money Trial

By Staff, Agencies

Donald Trump became on Thursday the first former US president to be convicted of felony crimes, as a New York jury found the tycoon guilty of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn star.

Trump is the first former president to be convicted of crimes while he is running for presidency in the November elections, but the decision will not prevent his candidacy.

Trump responded to the verdict, saying: “I am innocent. Those who will deliver the verdict will be the people, on November 5th.” The judge is expected to publish his verdict on July 11, while the first presidential debate is expected to take place even before that, on June 27.

According to American law, even if a person is convicted of felonies, there is nothing to prevent him from running for the presidency and even theoretically serving from a prison cell. This is a completely unprecedented situation, and since this is Trump's first conviction, his final punishment may be light.

The trial lasted six weeks, and was dubbed the "Hush Money Trial," which claimed Trump paid Stormy Daniels, an adult film star. The decision was made by a jury composed of seven men and five women. Judge Marchen guided them through the legal process, and an alternate jury panel remained separate from the main panel, just in case it was needed.

The prosecutors presented evidence during the trial to the effect that Trump forged business records to hide the scandal after the 2016 elections.

After the decision, Trump told the media: "It's a fake, abominable trial, by a corrupt judge, it's a disgrace. The real verdict will be given on November 5th by the people," he added. "This was a rigged decision from the first day, we did nothing wrong, I'm an innocent person."

Trump added justifications for his claims: “They didn't let us change the place [the area in New York State, according to Trump the district from which the jurors were taken is a Democratic and anti-Trump district]. We were at 5% or 6% in this county, in this area it was a disgraceful trial."

"The voters know what happened here and everyone knows what happened here. You have a general prosecutor supported by [George] Soros, I didn't do anything wrong. And that's fine, I'm fighting for our country, I'm fighting for our constitution. Our whole country is now falsified. It was done by the Biden administration to harm a political opponent."

Trump spelled out his plans: "We will continue to fight. We will fight to the end and win. Because our country is going to hell. We don't have that country anymore. We have a divided mess. We are a declining nation, a serious decline.

"Millions and millions of people are flowing into our country right now from jails and mental institutions, terrorists. And they are taking over our country. We have a country that is in big trouble."

He concluded: "This was a rigged decision from the first day, with a compromised judge who should never have been allowed to preside over this case, ever. We will fight for our law. It's not over."

Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, tweeted: "Such bullshit. I blame the Democrats who have managed to turn the country into a third world dump. November fifth is the last chance to save the country."

The President Joe Biden took the advantage to promote his election campaign, and tweeted on X: "There is only one way to distance Donald Trump from the Oval Office: at the ballot box."

While the Biden campaign responded by encouraging people to vote, the White House chose to minimize its responses. "We respect the rule of law, and have no further comments," said Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel's office.

As a candidate for a federal role, Trump is limited only by the requirements in the US Constitution. These requirements are simple: The president must be at least 35 years old, must be a US citizen, a natural-born citizen, and must have lived in the US for at least 14 years. The constitution does not refer to criminal convictions.