Donald Trump has become the first former US president to be convicted on criminal charges.
The real estate mogul, former US commander-in-chief and Republican party 2024 presidential nominee was found guilty on all counts on Thursday, May 30, by a jury of 12 citizens of Manhattan, New York in the unprecedented criminal prosecution of an ex-president.
The jury found that Trump, 77, falsified business records throughout 2017 by lying that he was paying his then-lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen for phoney “legal services” when he was actually reimbursing him for the hush money that kept Daniels from speaking out about having sex with Trump inside a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 2006.
When asked to read the verdict on count one of the indictment, the foreman calmly stood up and said, “Guilty.”
He then repeated the word “guilty” 33 more times when asked to read the jury’s verdict on the other counts.
As the verdict was read, Trump slouched in his seat, shoulders forward. He titled his head, looking at each juror while his fate was read out.
The verdict capped a dramatic seven-week trial in Manhattan Supreme Court in which the jurors, including people who both praised and criticized the polarizing politician, heard X-rated testimony from Daniels herself.
Cohen, a convicted perjurer who testified that he lied under oath in the past to “protect” Trump was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s star witness against his former boss.
Trump’s lawyers capitalized on Cohen’s history of lies and revealed that he’d once stolen $60,000 from the ex-president’s business, as they tried to paint him as a serial liar and fabricator hellbent on seeing his former boss behind bars.