MANHATTAN — On Thursday evening, May 30th, former President Donald J. Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges by a New York jury of his peers. This is the first time in American history that a former president has ever been convicted of criminal conduct. His sentencing is scheduled for July 11—just days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin where Trump is to become the official Republican nominee for president—with potential for up to 4 years in prison.
This case was brought against Donald Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Mr. Bragg had alleged that Trump falsified business records related to the reimbursement of “hush money” paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up a sex scandal right before the 2016 presidential election. For this, Donald Trump was indicted—and now convicted—on 34 felony charges.
While the falsification of business records is usually a misdemeanor crime (a low level crime) in the state of New York, the law allows for the crime to be elevated to a felony (a high level crime) if the falsification of the records is done in concealment of another crime. In the case of Donald Trump, the “secondary” underlying crime for the felony was the violation of a state election law.
The case lasted approximately 6 weeks, as prosecutors painstakingly presented their case to the 12-member jury. The jury, consisting of 7 men and 5 women, were selected over the span of 3 days with input from both Manhattan prosecutors and Donald Trump’s attorneys. Over 200 jurors were ultimately dismissed after exhaustive questioning by both sides into their personal history, political views, social media posts, and ability to remain impartial despite any opinions they might have about the former president.
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