The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels. His sentencing will take place on July 11 – just days ahead of the Republican convention, where he is expected to be named the party’s presidential candidate.
He is expected to appeal the verdict. During the hearing, he denied all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
At the heart of the case is a $130,000 payment to Daniels, in exchange for not going public about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. Trump said he elected to paid the money despite Daniels trying to extort him based on what he said were false claims.
At issue in court, though, is how the payment was labelled as “legal expenses,” in what the prosecution alleges was part of a broader conspiracy to hide the true nature of the transactions during the 2016 election campaign.
Trump’s defence lawyers argued that the former president was not aware of any wrongdoing and that his focus at the time was often on other matters.
The star witness was Trump’s own former legal fixer, Michael Cohen, who became a valuable witness for the prosecution after his 2018 conviction on charges of lying to Congress to protect Trump. “Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law,” Cohen said on X, formerly Twitter, after the verdict. “While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”
Upon walking out of the courthouse on Thursday, Trump claimed that “this is a rigged trial. It’s’ a disgrace.”
“The real verdict is going to be on November 5, by the people,” he told reporters, referring to the upcoming US elections.
Trump said he was “an innocent man,” and claimed that the administration of President Joe Biden was behind what he described as a “politically motivated” verdict.
US President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign called his Republican rival Donald Trump a “convicted felon,” saying Thursday’s verdict proved “no one is above the law.”
Biden’s campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said: “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”
The conviction does not stop Trump from running for the upcoming election.
This is the first ever criminal case against a former US president, albeit potentially thanks to Richard Nixon’s pardon from his successor Gerald Ford after the Watergate scandal that toppled him.
It’s also the first of several trials Trump faces, but the only one likely to be resolved ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
US laws and the constitution do not forbid somebody with criminal or other convictions from running for or being president. What impact the cases might have on Trump’s image among voters is, however, another question.
Donald Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, said the defence team was eyeing an appeal “as soon as we can.”
In remarks to broadcaster CNN, Blanche hinted that Trump would push forward with post-trial motions and “if that is not successful, then as soon as we can appeal we will. And the process in New York is there’s a sentencing, and then we appeal from there.”
The sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
Anna Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School, told DW she expected to see motions filed by Trump’s attorneys. “Basically asking for the court to overturn the jury’s verdict. Those are rarely granted, but they are very common.”
The falsifying business records charges carry up to four years in prison. But experts say his imprisonment is unlikely.
“It is more likely that he will get a sentence of something like probation or probation and a fine or probation and community service,” Cominsky said.
(With inputs from DW)