Trump found guilty on all charges in ‘hush money’ case
Former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 charges by a New York jury in the “hush money” case.
A 12-member jury found Trump guilty on all counts on Thursday afternoon, making him the first president in modern history to be convicted of a crime.
The felony counts were related to falsifying business records stemming from an allegation that Trump paid porn star Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) $130,000 in 2016 to conceal an alleged sexual encounter from years earlier while he ran for president at the time.
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The jury concluded that Trump authorized the plan to falsify checks and other related records to prevent voters from learning of the alleged sexual encounter with Daniels back in 2006.
Prosecutors argued that the conspiracy had spanned his 2016 campaign as well as his first year as president. Trump has denied having sex with Daniels and all charges in the case.
In the past, Trump has attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for leading the investigation against him, calling him a "local failed district attorney" and claiming that he "illegally leaked massive amounts of grand jury information, for which he should be prosecuted or, at a minimum, he should resign."
In March, before the trial started, the court granted prosecutors' motion to limit Trump's ability to make statements about the case outside of the proceedings, namely on social media.
New York Judge Juan M. Merchan found Trump guilty of violating this gag order in April on nine occasions via posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, and his presidential campaign website.
Merchan wrote that while he was "keenly aware of, and protective of" Trump's freedom of speech and expression, he warned that the court will not accept "willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment."
Trump and his supporters have long denied the validity of the trial and its proceedings, claiming that the entire matter was a politically-motivated attack on the GOP candidate.
Since leaving the White House in January 2021, Trump has faced numerous criminal charges in multiple courts, which include his alleged efforts to overrule the 2020 election results.
