Trump Found Guilty Of All 34 Counts In Hush Money Case, What’s Next For Him?

On Thursday, jurors found former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump guilty on all 34 courts of falsifying business records to cover up a sexual affair that threatened his 2016 presidential campaign. The verdict reached in Trump’s hush money case makes him the first former American president to become a convicted felon.

Following two days of deliberation, the jury of twelve New Yorkers found Trump guilty of falsifying business records. These records were used to reimburse his former attorney, Michael Cohen, under the guise of standard legal expenses. However, they constituted a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, intended to secure her silence regarding the alleged affair she had with the former president in 2006.

“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump said outside the courtroom shortly after the verdict was read. “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 and his defense team have already indicated their plans to appeal, following months of denouncing the case, attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Merchan presiding over the case, calling them “biased” and “corrupt.”

Judge Merchan has set Trump’s sentencing for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention at which Trump is expected to receive the party’s nomination. He could be sentenced to up to four years in prison or probation.

However, according to the New York State Unified Court System, at the pre-sentence interview, a psychologist or social worker at the probation department may also give Trump a chance to “try to make a good impression and explain why he or she deserves a lighter punishment.”

Trump will likely be mandated to report to his probation officer, and travel restrictions could be enforced.

Although no legal prohibition prevents Trump from running for president as a felon or even serving as president, his voting rights will be revoked.

Given that Florida, where Trump is a registered voter, mandates felons to finish their entire sentence, including parole and probation, before reinstating voting rights, it is unlikely that Trump will complete his sentence before the November Election Day.

While his felony conviction calls for up to four years in jail, if he were to receive probation instead, Trump could still face imprisonment if convicted of further offenses.

Trump currently faces three other criminal trials, two federal cases dealing with his mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and a Georgia state case regarding election interference.

While prominent Democrats have taken to social media, applauding the justice system and its decision, Trump supporters have criticized the verdict, expressing discontent and raising concerns about perceived biases within the justice system.

“This won’t stop Trump. He’ll win the election if he’s not killed first. But it does mark the end of the fairest justice system in the world,” Tucker Carlson wrote on X. “Anyone who defends this verdict is a danger to you and your family.”