Donald Trump, the former US president, was found guilty of hiding information in business documents. A New York court ruled on Thursday local time. The leader of the Republican Party has been found guilty of all 34 charges brought in that case.
The court’s ruling marks the first time a former US president has been convicted of a criminal offense. Trump’s sentence will be announced in this case on July 11. The former president may be jailed. But lawyers say penalties are more likely.
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After the verdict was announced on Thursday, Trump told reporters after leaving the courtroom that it was a disgrace to him. He did not get justice. He will fight against this decision of the court until the last moment.
From this statement by Trump, it is understood that he will appeal against this verdict in a higher court. But this is not the only case against Trump. A case is currently pending against him for allegedly conspiring to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. In addition, he faces additional legal action for allegedly removing classified government documents from the White House after his presidency ends.
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The lawsuit claims that in 2006, Trump, then 77, had a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels. Subsequently, Trump paid Stormy $130,000 to keep quiet about the issue prior to the 2016 presidential election. Michael Cohen, the attorney for Trump, gave him the money. The business documents, however, hid the details of this transaction. However, Trump has always denied these allegations.
A bench of 12 judges announced the verdict on Thursday after a long five-week hearing in Manhattan, New York. Before this, they discussed the verdict for 11 hours. The verdict was made public at the same time as the US presidential election, which will take place in a few months. Trump desires to run for office again and take part in this election. However, this decision will not hinder his election campaign.
Meanwhile, his lawyers accused the court of trying to spread ‘influence in the upcoming election’ against Trump through this case. He also said that the former president did nothing wrong. Trump said the same thing over and over. He told reporters several times outside the court that he was actually a victim of political vendettas.
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