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| Donald Trump |
By Associated Press
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below could be heard in the hallway on the courthouse’s 15th floor where the decision was revealed after more than nine hours of deliberations.
Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts marks the end of his historic hush money trial. But the fight is far from over.
Here’s what to know:
When is the sentencing? July 11, just days before Republicans are set to pick Trump as the 2024 nominee.
Can Trump vote?
He may be convicted and reside in Florida, but can still vote as long as he stays out of prison in New York state.
Will this impact the 2024 election?
It’s unclear whether Trump’s once-imaginable status as a person convicted of a felony will have any impact at all on voters.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” an angry Trump told reporters after leaving the courtroom. “The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people. They know what happened, and everyone knows what happened here.”
Judge Juan M. Merchan set sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where GOP leaders, who remained resolute in their support in the aftermath of the verdict, are expected to formally make him their nominee.
The verdict is a stunning legal reckoning for Trump and exposes him to potential prison time in the city where his manipulations of the tabloid press helped catapult him from a real estate tycoon to reality television star and ultimately president.
As he seeks to reclaim the White House in this year’s election, the judgment presents voters with another test of their willingness to accept Trump’s boundary-breaking behavior.
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