As Fox News reported that former President Donald Trump was convicted on all charges in the Manhattan criminal hush money case, cheering could be heard erupting in the footage.
This came shortly after the jury returned from just 11 hours of deliberation.
The former president, the first in American history to be convicted of a felony, was found guilty of 34 counts of falsification of business records, for his scheme to conceal the purpose of hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
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Business record falsification is usually classified as a misdemeanor in the state of New York. However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg argued to jurors that the hush payment scheme was effectively a campaign finance plot to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, by depriving voters of knowledge about the former president's extramarital affair; therefore, because the falsification was committed in service of concealing another crime, the charges were enhanced to felonies.
Trump maintains that he is innocent, and has never acknowledged that the affair with Daniels even happened in the first place. He is almost certain to appeal the verdict to a higher state court, a process that could add months of delay to any chance of Trump serving a sentence.
The sentencing date is set for July 11.
It is unclear whether Trump will be subject to prison time, or will simply pay a fine. It is one of four criminal cases Trump faces, including election conspiracy cases and a case regarding the theft of classified national defense information. The other cases, while broadly considered by legal experts to be more serious, are currently tied up in various procedural snafus that make it unlikely they will go to trial before the November presidential election can be held.
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