On May 30, 2024, Mr. Donald J. Trump was unanimously found guilty of 34 of 34 counts by 12 Manhattan, NY residents (jury of his peers) beyond a reasonable doubt. Each of the 34 counts were for falsifying business records (to hide the "catch and kill" scheme) to protect Mr. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The jury deliberated just over 9 hours.
Contrary to post-verdict statements by Mr. Trump, Fox "News", far right commentators, and several elected Republican officials, neither the District Attorney nor the Judge were involved in the deliberation and decision to convict Trump. The Biden Administration and Department of Justice (DOJ) also had nothing to do with the trial and conviction.
It is incredibly disconcerting that vitriol about the decision and toward the DA, Judge, Biden Administration, and DOJ are simply because people did not like the verdict. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with a verdict; however, blaming everyone but the guilty party is anti-American and only serves to undermine this country's system of government.
It more than likely that the jury relied heavily upon the testimony of David Pecker, provided financial documents, and email conversations. Mr. Pecker was the head of the National Enquirer and a close friend of Mr. Trump. The National Enquirer refused to make the payments because they understood that the payments were a violation of election finance law. It should be noted that the defense team did not try to impeach Mr. Pecker's testimony.
The jury specifically requested a read back of Mr. Pecker's testimony to understand that the underlying reason for paying off three people (a playboy bunny, former porn star and a doorman) for their stories and then not publishing those stories. The jury also used Mr. Pecker's testimony to corroborate Michael Cohen's testimony. (Cohen was convicted and sent to prison for helping Trump with hiding the "catch and kill scheme".)
Hope Hicks and Madeleine Westerhout, who both had worked for Mr. Trump for many years, also testified for the prosecution.
The defense only had 2 witnesses and vociferously tried to impeach Mr. Cohen as liar whose testimony should be ignored. Ironically, Mr. Cohen's lies were to protect Mr. Trump and the underlying scheme.
Sentencing will be conducted on July 11, 2024. Mr. Trump will appeal the verdict as permitted by the U.S. law.
On May 30, 2024, 12 Manhattanites delivered a unanimous guilty verdict on all 34 counts against Donald Trump. The jury primarily relied on the testimony of three Trump allies, especially David Pecker, source documents, and email conversations to reach their decision. (Michael Cohen was considered a co-conspirator whose testimony had to be corroborated.) This is how the justice system is supposed to work.
The vitriol spewed by Trump, his far right followers, and conservative politicians only serves to illustrate how anti-American and anti-Democratic the conservative wing of the republican party has become.
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