Former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty in the case involving hush money paid by his lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their sexual encounter, according to American media reports.
The judge now has to decide on the punishment for Trump. In this case, Trump faced 34 charges. Theoretically, he could face between 4 to 136 years in prison, but most predictions suggest the punishment is unlikely to involve imprisonment.
Trump's punishment may be limited to probation. Another option is house arrest.
However, this won't prevent Trump from running in the US presidential election. Moreover, even if Trump is sent to prison and wins the election, he could still perform his presidential duties from prison.
Case details
According to the prosecution, during the 2016 presidential election (in which Trump won), his lawyer paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her sexual encounter with Trump.
During the trial, testimony from over twenty witnesses was heard, including lawyers, analysts, and media managers. However, the most interest was in two witnesses:
- Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen;
- Porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Most of the case is built around Cohen's testimony, as he stated that he discussed with Trump over twenty times how to cover up the story with Daniels, and he acted under direct instructions from the former president.
Even more public attention was drawn to the testimony of the porn actress. Daniels detailed all the specifics of what happened, down to the positions they engaged in and how long it lasted.
Trump's position
The former president typically remained silent in court and was even seen napping during hearings. However, he was much less reserved immediately after leaving the courtroom, accusing the prosecution and the court of bias and carrying out a political agenda.
He directly accuses the current US President Joe Biden of orchestrating the trial to eliminate a competitor in the election.