Trump convicted on all 34 criminal charges in New York hush money trial – PBS NewsHour
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Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 criminal charges against him in a New York courtroom. He becomes the first former president charged, and now convicted, of a felony. The case stemmed from Trump falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. William Brangham reports.
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
Geoff Bennett:
The verdict is in. Former President Donald Trump is found guilty on all 34 criminal charges against him in a New York courtroom.
Amna Nawaz:
An historic moment, as he becomes the first former president charged and now convicted of a felony.
The case stemmed from Mr. Trump falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Trump reacted after the verdict and said this case is long from over.
Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt.
It’s a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn’t give us a venue change. We were at 5 percent or 6 percent in this district, in this area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people. And they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here.
Geoff Bennett:
The judge has scheduled sentencing for July 11. That’s just four days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
William Brangham spent the day in the courtroom and joins us now.
So, William, you were our eyes and ears in the courtroom. Tell us what you saw when the verdict came in and what the mood was there.
William Brangham:
Well, Geoff, this whole afternoon suddenly capsized like the Titanic.
I mean, it was — we were all expecting that we were going to go home for the day. The judge had just been in the courtroom saying the jury asked to be done for the day. They were going to go at 4:30 and be dismissed. And then, minutes later, he came back in and said, actually, the jury has just passed me a note saying they have received a verdict.
And the former president was sitting at his defense table and had been chatting amiably with his lawyer. And when that news came, he suddenly stiffened very seriously and sat still until the jury came in.
And then, for 34 distinct counts, when they kept saying “Guilty, guilty, guilty,” the former president was just staring straight ahead. And it was clear then, once all 34 counts were read, how serious this all was.
The jury then filed out, went right in front of the former president. No one made eye contact with him. He seemed to be staring straight ahead. And, as the former president filed out today, he was as visibly angry as I have ever seen him. I mean, I have seen him in a few other court cases here in New York City.
And he has fought with judges and seemed angry and frustrated and perturbed. This was as angry as I have ever seen him. He shook his son Eric Trump’s hand quite vigorously and then walked out the door and stood in front of those cameras and heard what we just heard from him.
So, just an incredibly striking day and a very dramatic turn of events.
Geoff Bennett:
William, does the relative speed of the jury reaching a verdict, does that make sense, in light of what they asked for earlier today?
William Brangham:
It does in some ways, because the jury this morning heard two different things at their request. They wanted to hear jury instructions and they wanted to hear a certain type of testimony reread to them.
And both of those, now looking back in hindsight, gives some clues as to what they were thinking, because both of those things that they were read today go right to the heart of this case. The first one was jury instructions which detailed whether a defendant can be found guilty if they orchestrated acts that other people did, criminal acts that other people did.
And Donald Trump clearly, they seemed to believe, is guilty of that. The testimony that they asked to relisten to today centered on this famous 2015 Trump Tower meeting that many people have pointed to as the sort of original moment when the entire scheme that eventually undid the president in this case was concocted.
This is where David Pecker of “The National Enquirer,” Michael Cohen, his lawyer, and Donald Trump met and created this scheme to become the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign, to look for any negative stories, to pay people to stay quiet. And that’s what eventually led to today’s guilty verdict.
So, again, hindsight is always 20/20, but it does seem, based on what they wanted to hear this morning, that that is the direction they were pointing. And now we know.
Geoff Bennett:
And lastly, William, what more do we know about the sentencing? What comes next?
William Brangham:
Well, as you mentioned, the sentencing is right before the RNC convention. Each of these counts carries a four-year $5,000 penalty.
We have no idea whether the former president will be sentenced to prison. New York state judges have a lot of leeway to make that up. He could very well be sentenced to probation or house arrest. I mean, this judge has repeatedly said that he understands that Donald Trump is running for president, that he very well may likely be the next president.
And so he has said he wants imprisonment to be a last resort. But he has also said, if he feels that that is appropriate, that he would consider that. So, again, we simply do not know.
The other thing that’s important to remember is that Trump has also been insulting this judge and attacking him. We heard a little bit of that just a few minutes ago. Every time he leaves this courtroom, he attacks this judge. And he has recently attacked this judge’s daughter.
Those things can be factored in as well, but we won’t know until later this summer.
Geoff Bennett:
All right, that is William Brangham in New York for us tonight.
William, thanks so much.
William Brangham:
Thanks, Geoff.
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William Brangham William Brangham
William Brangham is an award-winning correspondent, producer, and substitute anchor for the PBS NewsHour.
Ali Schmitz Ali Schmitz
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