FACT FOCUS: Trump responds to guilty verdict with attacks and false claims
Former President Donald Trump sentenced Friday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors have called a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to cover the accounts of women who claimed they had extramarital sex with him shut down. As he made his remarks, he repeated numerous false or unsubstantiated claims he made not only during the trial but also during his campaign for a second term as president. His comments, made from Trump Tower, ranged from blaming the Biden administration for orchestrating the hush money case to other false claims about the process and other issues facing the country.
Here’s a look at some of those claims.
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CLAIM: “This is all being done by Biden and his people.”
THE FACTS: During the trial, Trump said, without evidence, that the charges were politically orchestrated by Democratic President Joe Biden and his administration in an effort to keep him out of the White House. But Biden and his administration have no control over this prosecution.
The case was brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a state-level prosecutor. His office does not work for the Justice Department or any office in the White House. On Friday, Biden called Trump’s response to the jury’s guilty verdict “irresponsible.”
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CLAIM: “Under no circumstances were we allowed to use our election expert.”
THE FACTS: Trump was referring to campaign finance expert Bradley A. Smith, a law professor and former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission. Judge Juan M. Merchan did not stop Smith from testifying. Trump’s legal team opted not to appeal to him after the judge declined to broaden the scope of questioning the defense could pursue.
The ruling reflected his preliminary ruling on the issue, which limited what Smith could be asked to do. Merchan said that if called, Smith could provide general background on the FEC — for example, its purpose and the laws it enforces — and provide definitions for terms like “campaign contribution.”
He rejected the Trump team’s renewed efforts to have Smith define three terms in federal election law, saying it would violate rules that prevent expert witnesses from interpreting the law. Smith also could not assess whether the former president’s alleged actions violated these laws.
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CLAIM: “They missed the statute of limitations by a wide margin because this was very old. They could have brought this seven years ago instead of bringing it in the middle of the election.”
THE FACTS: Judge Merchan in February denied a request from Trump’s legal team to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired, court documents show.
In his decision, Merchan cited pandemic-era executive orders issued in March 2020 and April 2021 by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that extended the limit on filing criminal charges.
New York’s statute of limitations for most crimes is five years. The earliest charge in the felony indictment occurred on February 14, 2017, while the indictment was filed on March 30, 2023.
But Cuomo’s executive orders meant the deadline for filing charges in the indictment was extended by a year and 47 days, meaning the indictment was brought just under the wire.
In New York, the clock can also stop on the statute of limitations when a defendant is persistently out of state. Trump rarely visited New York during the four years of his presidency and now lives mainly in Florida and New Jersey. Merchan did not address this argument in his decision.
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CLAIM: “Record levels of terrorists, record levels, the highest level we’ve ever seen of terrorists pouring into our country.”
THE FACTS: The number of foreigners on the terrorist watch list has increased, but federal immigration authorities say this is “highly unusual” and only a small portion of the total number of migrants crossing the border. From October 2022 to September 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol reported seeing 169 people off the list, up from 98 the year before. Since October 2023, the Border Patrol has reported 80 encounters.
The former president also claimed, as he has done in recent speeches, that Chinese migrants are coming to the US to build a military. He said 29,000 have arrived in recent months.
Although the US has seen a more than tenfold increase in the number of Chinese migrants, with 37,000 arrested in 2023, there is no evidence that it has attempted to build a military force or training network. Interviews with some of these migrants reveal that they came to flee China or were looking for a better life.
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CLAIM: “This is the crime I committed that will send me to prison for 187 years, while violent crimes are happening all over the city at levels no one has ever seen before.”
THE FACTS: Crime in New York City is nowhere near 1990s levels. The latest crime data from the NYPD shows that reports of major crime are down this year compared to the same period last year. During the first week of May, homicides were down more than 15% from the same period last year, and down 26% from 2021. Shootings are down 41% since 2021.
Each of Trump’s 34 charges carries a maximum prison sentence of four years. That amounts to 136 years behind bars. Regardless, New York imposes a maximum of 20 years on consecutive sentences for such charges. Trump’s punishment is ultimately up to Merchan, but there is no guarantee the judge will give Trump time behind bars.
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CLAIM: “They falsify business records. That sounds very bad. You know, it’s just a misdemeanor.”
THE FACTS: Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. This is not a crime. It is a Class E felony in New York, the lowest level of misdemeanor charges in the state.
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CLAIM: “This is about federal elections, not state elections. You’re not even allowed to look at it. They took over the state and the city and ran in federal elections. They are not allowed.”
THE FACTS: Prosecutors in Manhattan did not charge Trump with federal violations — that’s not allowed — but they listed the charges as one of three “unlawful acts” for jurors to consider when weighing the charges. To convict Trump, jurors had to determine that not only did he falsify company records, but that he did so to commit or conceal another crime.
Prosecutors said the other crime was a violation of a state election law that prohibits conspiracies to unlawfully promote or prevent an election. Jurors then had three so-called “illegal means” to choose from. One involved federal campaign finance violations.