Donald Trump criminal trial verdict | From “Teflon Don” to convicted felon

(New York) A convicted felon. Between now and November 5, the date of the 2024 presidential election, and perhaps until the end of his days, Donald Trump, sometimes nicknamed “Teflon Don”, will have to wear this title following the historic verdict rendered Thursday by jurors at his trial in New York.

After less than 12 hours of deliberations spread over two days, the jury of seven men and five women found the former president guilty of 34 counts of falsification of commercial documents held against him, in connection with the payment of 130 $000 to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

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Donald Trump thus became the first former president to be tried and then convicted by a jury of his peers following a criminal trial.

Barring an unexpected change, he will also be the first candidate from one of the two major American parties to run for the White House while being a convicted criminal, a condition which does not make him ineligible for the highest office. the United States.

The judge in charge of the trial, Juan Merchan, set sentencing for July 11. Donald Trump faces a maximum prison sentence of four years, but he could get off with probation.

Trump calls himself a “political prisoner”

At the end of an extraordinary seven-week trial that included questions of sex without a condom and the missionary position, Donald Trump took the jury’s verdict stoically at the defendant’s table. However, after shaking the hand of his son Eric, the only member of his family present, he seemed stunned as he left the courtroom, according to witnesses at the scene. Outside the room, he let his anger loose.

“It’s a shame,” he thundered in front of journalists, flanked by his main lawyer, Todd Blanche, whose performance was the subject of criticism.

“The real verdict will be delivered on November 5 by the people, who knows what happened here,” he added after complaining that the trial took place in a district where his supporters do not exceed “5% or 6%”.

In an email sent to his supporters to solicit donations, he also described himself as a “political prisoner”.

He will have more to say this Friday at Trump Tower, where he is scheduled to hold a press conference at 11 a.m. He will undoubtedly then address the question of an inevitable appeal of the verdict.

Verdict which falls less than a month before the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, scheduled for June 27. In the meantime, the president has refrained from commenting on it.

“We respect the rule of law and have no further comment,” said Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office.

“Without fear or favor”

The New York trial stemmed from the first of four criminal cases against Donald Trump. According to several experts, it was the least serious or winnable of the four, with the others focusing on the former president’s efforts to invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election or to preserve classified documents after his departure from the White House in January 2021.

However, the team of prosecutors put in place by Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg succeeded in convincing jurors that Donald Trump had falsified or had commercial documents falsified in order to pass off the reimbursement to his personal lawyer, Michael, as legal expenses. Cohen, payment to Stormy Daniels.

According to New York prosecutors, this scheme was part of a plot to buy the silence of people who could harm Donald Trump before the 2016 presidential election.

The verdict represents a major victory for Alvin Bragg, fiercely criticized by Donald Trump since his indictment on April 4, 2023. The Manhattan prosecutor reacted soberly.

“Although this defendant is unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial, and ultimately today at this verdict, in the same manner as every other case that passes through the doors of the court: by following the facts and the law, and doing so without fear or favor,” he told reporters.

The verdict also represents sweet revenge for Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, who served prison time for the same payment that was at the heart of his former boss’s trial.

“Although this has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters,” wrote on

Unequal reactions

In a park opposite the court, Donald Trump’s supporters, few in number, reacted with anger and amazement to the verdict of the New York jurors.

” No ! No ! “, cried Jake Beal, a 67-year-old Californian, burying his face in a poster on which he had written “Free Mother Teresa”, a saint to whom Donald Trump had compared himself earlier this week.

“Shame on you, Lady Justice,” he continued, brandishing a fist in the direction of the court.

At the same time, in another part of the park, critics of the former president began joyfully chanting: “Guilty!” Guilty ! »

“It’s a relief,” said Nadine Styler, who has been in the park since the very beginning of Donald Trump’s trial. “We have seen for too long the manipulation of the justice system by Donald Trump and other powerful people. It’s reassuring to see that there are limits to this game.”

However, few of Donald Trump’s critics saw the verdict as a turning point in the presidential campaign.

“The country is so divided,” said Daniel Mitnik. “Trump supporters will say the verdict is the result of a rigged justice system. They won’t abandon him. »

Among Donald Trump supporters, many predicted that the verdict would actually help the Republican presidential candidate.

“It will strengthen him, that’s all.” You will see the results in the polls,” said a New Yorker who did not want to give her name. “After that, we will have the election and all this will be behind us. »