the essential
Donald Trump was found guilty at his trial in the middle of the presidential campaign. This is the first time that a former president of the United States has been convicted by the criminal justice system.
After two days of deliberation, the ax has just fallen. Donald Trump was found guilty this Thursday, May 30 at his criminal trial in New York for hidden payments to an X-rated movie star, an earthquake for the former American president in the middle of the race for the White House.
A verdict which does not prevent the 77-year-old Republican billionaire from being a candidate in the presidential election in November, against Democrat Joe Biden, even in the event of a prison sentence.
Avoiding a sex scandal
Thus, the 12 jurors unanimously declared Donald Trump guilty of at least 26 of the 34 crimes of falsification of accounting documents, intended to hide a payment of 130,000 dollars to the porn actress Stormy Daniels to avoid a scandal sexually at the very end of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Unsurprisingly, the businessman immediately denounced a “rigged” trial, a “shame”, assuring that the “real verdict” will be that of the ballot boxes. “The real verdict will take place on November 5, by the American people,” he declared in front of the cameras in a corridor of the New York court.
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His sentence will be set on July 11 by Judge Juan Merchan, whom Donald Trump called “corrupt” outside of court throughout the trial. In theory, he faces up to four years in prison, possibly accompanied by a fine. But the magistrate can also impose a suspended prison sentence, or even community service.
What consequences for the presidential campaign?
The verdict falls in the middle of the presidential campaign, with the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on June 27 and the Republican convention in Milwaukee (July 15-18), where the billionaire will officially receive his party’s nomination. Five months before the election, the consequences of this decision on the ballot are difficult to predict, especially since the Republican magnate is expected to appeal.
According to several polls, some of the voters favorable to Donald Trump could now give up voting for him. This is the first time that a former president of the United States has been convicted by the criminal justice system.
But since 2023, his indictments in four separate criminal cases and his three civil convictions, legal troubles that he describes as a “witch hunt” orchestrated by the Democratic establishment, have not prevented him from handily winning the primary of his party.
Deprived of a campaign on the ground, Donald Trump still used his trial to capture media attention, speaking several times a day outside the courtroom, flanked by his children or elected Republican officials. came to support him.
