Former U.S. President Trump convicted in hush money trial
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Image: Glenn Francis.
Former US President Donald Trump was convicted, by a New York jury, of 34 counts of falsifying business records on Thursday. It is the first time a US president has been convicted on criminal charges, and Trump is now the first former president to become a felon.
The prosecution alleged Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen gave hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, amounting to US$130,000, in 2016, shortly before that year's presidential election. The payment was to ensure Daniels did not talk publicly about her affair with Trump in 2006. Then, in 2017, Cohen received US$420,000 from Trump himself and his trust as reimbursement for various payments Cohen had made on Trump's behalf, including the payment to Daniels. The prosecution had argued the fraud occurred when Trump intentionally filed documents which misclassified the payments to Cohen.
Image: Gage Skidmore, 2011.
Trump has vowed to appeal the case and claimed the trial was "rigged" against him. Trump denies he ever had an affair with Daniels, or that he committed fraud. President Biden called Trump's remarks "reckless." Conversely, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky came to Trump's defense, writing on the social media platform X: "These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal." Elise Stefanik, Ted Cruz, and Jim Jordan each voiced their support for the former president.
Daniels' attorney commented after the verdict was handed down: "I think it was the culmination of a lot of things — the finality of it and, you know, the worry and nervousness she had throughout leading up to this," adding it "hit [Daniels] hard" and the end of the trial "was more or less a relief."
On June 1, Daniels spoke out about the trial. She said she thought Trump should be sentenced to jail time and community service. She added Trump was "completely and utterly out of touch with reality" and talked further about the trial's aftermath: "I’ve been telling the truth the entire time. It’s not over for me. It’s never going to be over for me. Trump may be guilty, but I still have to live with the legacy." However, it should be noted that not all of Daniels' testimony about Trump during the trial was negative.
Several commentators predicted in the lead-up to the jury's deliberation that the verdict could affect Trump's poll numbers. A poll conducted by Morning Consult on Friday showed 54% of registered voters approved of the verdict, and 34% disapproved. Various analysts pointed out that early poll results on the trial are probably not good indicators for public opinion trends in the future.
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- "Stormy Daniels Says Trump Should Be Jailed After Conviction" — AFP News, June 2, 2024
- Alex Thompson; Hans Nichols. "Poll: 49% of Independents think Trump should drop out post-guilty verdict" — Axios, June 1, 2024
- Raven Brunner; Nicholas Rice. "Stormy Daniels Breaks Silence on Donald Trump's Conviction: 'I Still Have to Live with the Legacy'" — People (magazine), June 1, 2024
- Melissa Quinn; Caitlin Yilek. "Trump says "we're going to fight" one day after conviction in "hush money" trial" — ABC News (United States), May 31, 2024
- Toluse Olorunnipa. "Biden blasts Trump for ‘reckless’ attacks on trial that convicted him" — The Washington Post, May 31, 2024
- Tara Suter. "Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says Trump’s conviction in hush money case ‘hit her hard’" — The Hill (newspaper), May 31, 2024
- Allison Pecorin; Alexandra Hutzler. "'Shameful': Republicans quickly come to Trump's defense after his conviction" — ABC News (United States), May 30, 2024
- Adam Wren; Lisa Kashinsky. "Will Trump’s guilty verdict hurt him? Read this story (not the polls)." — Politico, May 30, 2024
- Nick Mourtoupalas; Azi Paybarah. "The evidence that led to Trump’s hush money conviction" — The Washington Post, May 30, 2024
- Josh Gerstein. "Stormy spoke. Trump fumed. Jurors were captivated — but also cringed." — Politico, May 7, 2024