Thursday, May 30, 2024 - 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.
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