Jurors found former President Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former president to be convicted of a felony.
The jurors reached a verdict in the late afternoon, after less than 12 hours of deliberation in the hush money criminal case.
The 12 New Yorkers on Trump’s jury reached a unanimous decision on his fate, eliminating the possibility of a hung jury.
Trump faced 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to keep secret her alleged affair with Trump a decade prior until after votes were cast. Trump denies the affair and pleaded not guilty.
Trump on Thursday insisted he is a “very innocent man” after the verdict in his hush money trial, vowing he will “keep fighting.”
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people, and they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said outside the courtroom shortly after the verdict was read.
Trump’s fundraising page crashed shortly after he was convicted.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) at a Thursday press conference declined to say whether prosecutors will seek jail time for former President Trump after he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal an affair.
Asked about seeking jail time for Trump, Bragg said prosecutors would speak through their court filings in the coming weeks.
— Lauren Sforza
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 member of leadership and a top contender to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) atop the conference, said that the case was “politically motivated” and looked ahead to the November election as the chance to boot President Biden from office.
“This case was politically motivated from the beginning, and today’s verdict does nothing to absolve the partisan nature of this prosecution,” Thune said. “Regardless of outcome, more and more Americans are realizing that we cannot survive four more years of Joe Biden. With President Trump in the White House and a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, we can finally end the disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda that’s crushing American families and businesses.”
— Al Weaver
Former President Trump’s adviser Chris LaCivita blasted former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is running to become one of the state’s next senators, after remarks he shared in the lead-up to the verdict in the former president’s hush money case.
Minutes before Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee, was found guilty on all 34 felony counts in the Manhattan hush-money case, Hogan shared a Thursday post on the social media platform X, saying that “regardless” of the outcome, Americans should respect the legal “process” and the verdict.
In a little more than an hour, LaCivita, a veteran consultant, who has been overseeing day-to-day operations of the Republican National Committee (RNC) since March, fired back at the former governor, saying “You just ended your campaign.”
— Filip Timotija
Lanny Davis, a former legal adviser to Michael Cohen said, “Justice system works. Whether acquittal or guilt. Rule of law matters more than verdict.”
Cohen had been the prosecution’s star witness in the case, having took the stand for days under questioning and cross-examination.
— Ella Lee
Former President Trump would regain pardon power if he wins the White House in November, but that would not help him overturn his conviction in New York in his hush money trial.
Trump was found guilty Thursday on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former president to be convicted of a felony. Trump is likely to appeal the ruling, but if the conviction stands, reelection would do little to wipe away the guilty verdict.
— Brett Samuels
As a New York jury found former President Trump guilty of 34 felony counts on Thursday, the Rev. Al Sharpton said his thoughts were with the Central Park 5.
Trump’s trial, which began in April, took place in the same courthouse where the five Black and Brown boys were tried and wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a white woman in 1989. A judge vacated the convictions in 2002.
“This is the same building that Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise all passed into, day after day, as they endured a show trial for a crime they did not commit,” Sharpton said in a statement. “These children had to hear vitriol from people whose anger was incited by a man who spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for their execution. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Donald Trump is the criminal, and those five men are exonerated. I’m reminded of Dr. King’s proverb that the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”
— Cheyanne M. Daniels
Senate Republicans on Thursday widely panned the guilty verdict against former President Trump for falsifying business records, arguing that it was a “disgrace,” a “sham” and that the true verdict will come in November.
Republicans wasted no time laying into the decision after a jury found Trump guilty of all 34 counts. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is looking to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the top spot next year, called on Republicans to rally around the former president.
“This verdict is a disgrace, and this trial should have never happened,” Cornyn wrote on social platform X. “Now more than ever, we need to rally around @realdonaldtrump , take back the White House and Senate, and get this country back on track. The real verdict will be Election Day.”
Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the No. 3 Senate Republican, accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the judicial system against the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
— Al Weaver
Trump’s sentencing after his guilty verdict is scheduled for July 11.
That date is only four days before the Republican National Convention in which he is expected to formally become the party’s nominee for president — setting up another historic scenario.
Trump’s donation webpage crashed shortly after the verdict was read, with his campaign citing a massive influx of donations as the cause.
Trump’s page under WinRed, the official GOP fundraising site, said it was under maintenance.
“The American people see through Crooked Joe Biden’s rigged show trial,” Trump’s campaign posted on social platform X. “So many Americans were moved to donate to President Trump’s campaign that the WinRed pages went down. We are working on getting the website back online as quickly as possible.”
— Brett Samuels
Former President Trump’s swift guilty verdict on 34 counts related to concealing hush money payments makes him the first president to be convicted of a felony, but it does not mean he is going to jail any time soon.
— Rebecca Beitsch
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is running to replace Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as Senate GOP leader, called the verdict a “disgrace.”
This verdict is a disgrace, and this trial should have never happened. Now more than ever, we need to rally around @realdonaldtrump, take back the White House and Senate, and get this country back on track. The real verdict will be Election Day,” he wrote on social platform X.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday blasted Donald Trump’s conviction in his New York hush money case, predicting that the former president will successfully appeal the “absurd” verdict.
“Today is a shameful day in American history,” Johnson said in a statement released minutes after Trump’s guilty verdict was read in court.
“The American people rightfully see this is lawfare, and they know it is—and dangerous,” he added. “President Trump will rightfully appeal this absurd verdict—and he WILL WIN.”
— Mychael Schnell
Former President Trump insisted Thursday he is a “very innocent man” after a jury found him guilty on all 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial, vowing he will “keep fighting.”
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said outside the courtroom shortly after the verdict was read.
Read more about Trump’s reaction here.
— Brett Samuels
A crowd has gathered in the park outside the courthouse, with some cheering.
One protester is carrying a large sign that reads “TRUMP CONVICTED.”
Two helicopters are hovering in the area.
— Zach Schonfeld
Trump left the courtroom and spoke upon exiting, declaring the trial and the verdict “a disgrace.”
He said the “real verdict” would be in November, when voters head to the polls to elect the next president.