Donald Trump was found guilty on Thursday at his criminal trial in New York, a first for a former American president and an earthquake for the billionaire who says he is “innocent” and intends to return to the White House.
This historic verdict, with unpredictable political consequences, will not prevent the Republican champion from being a candidate in the presidential election on November 5 against Democrat Joe Biden, even in the event of a prison sentence.
This sentence, for hidden payments to an X-rated movie star, will be pronounced on July 11 by Manhattan court judge Juan Merchan, four days before the Republican Party convention which is to nominate Donald Trump as the candidate of the American conservatives.
In the meantime, he remains free.
One of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, announced on CNN a “call as soon as possible”, at the earliest after July 11.
When the criminal guilty verdict was read in the courtroom, the 77-year-old ex-president remained stoic, his shoulders lowered.
Those around him looked dejected.
Leaving the courtroom, with a grimace on his face, the man who in a decade turned American democracy upside down described himself as an “innocent man”, castigating a “rigged” trial which would be a “shame”.
Defiant, he assured that the “real verdict” would fall on the evening of the election on November 5.
Then he returned, fist raised, to his Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, from where he will give a press conference at 11 a.m. (3 p.m. GMT) on Friday.
“Above the law”
“No one is above the law,” responded Joe Biden’s campaign, warning that only the “ballot” will ensure that Donald Trump does not return to the Oval Office.
In front of the courthouse, New Yorkers coming off work congratulated each other, including John Rudy, a “60-year-old gay” man for whom it was “one of the rare moments when, really, no one is above the law in the United States of America”.
For Matthew Turner, on the contrary, this verdict “will make him even more popular in the eyes of the American people”.
After two days of deliberations, the 12 jurors unanimously declared Donald Trump guilty of all 34 crimes of falsifying accounting documents, intended to hide a payment of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels to avoid a sex scandal just before the 2016 presidential election.
“You gave this matter the attention it deserved,” Judge Merchan, whom Donald Trump has often called “corrupt,” told the jurors, his voice trembling.
The former president faces up to four years in prison, possibly accompanied by a fine. But the judge could impose a suspended prison sentence, or even community service.
The verdict is an earthquake in the middle of the presidential campaign, before the first debate between MM. Trump and Biden, June 27, and the Republican convention in Milwaukee, July 15 to 18.
The consequences on the November 5 vote are difficult to predict, with specialists estimating that the votes should only “move” at the “margin”. But according to several polls, some of his 2016 and 2020 voters could turn away.
“Political prisoner”
On a fundraising internet page, Donald Trump portrayed himself Thursday evening as a “political prisoner”.
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 Democrats – have not prevented him from winning his primary left.
Deprived of campaigning on the ground since mid-April, Donald Trump still used his trial to capture media attention, while refusing to testify during his trial.
For six weeks, the jurors delved behind the scenes of the 2016 presidential campaign, ultimately victorious but where the fear of a sex scandal seemed omnipresent in the Trump camp.
The testimony of ex-actress Stormy Daniels was one of the high points of the debates. She notably recounted in detail this sexual relationship, according to her consensual but where the “balance of power” was “unbalanced”. Donald Trump denies that this episode took place.
The $130,000 was paid to the actress by the billionaire’s former confidant, Michael Cohen, who has since become his sworn enemy. The latter soberly hailed “an important day” for the “truth”.
