NEW YORK — A day after a New York jury returned a historic guilty verdict in Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is likely to try to cast the conviction and his campaign in a new light.
The former president is expected to hold a news conference at Trump Tower late Friday morning.
After his conviction on Thursday, Trump angrily denounced the trial as a “disgrace” and told reporters he was an “innocent man.”
His supporters were quick to echo these sentiments, while many of his critics – political and otherwise – applauded the verdict.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. The hush money trial and subsequent conviction mark the first time a former U.S. president has ever been tried or convicted in a criminal case.
He still faces three other felony charges, but the New York case was the first to go to trial and likely the only one ahead of the November election.
Judge Juan M. Merchan scheduled Trump’s sentencing for July 11. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of four years, although the sentence would ultimately be up to Merchan. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to say whether prosecutors would seek prison time.
Currently:
– What you need to know about the guilty verdict in Trump’s hush money trial
– Photos: A visual look at the past seven weeks of Donald Trump’s hush money trial
– How Trump’s conviction affects the 2024 presidential race
– Trump could still vote for himself if he isn’t in jail on Election Day
– Trump investigations: the status of the cases filed against him
Here’s the latest:
Several Republican lawmakers reacted furiously Thursday to Donald Trump’s felony conviction and rushed to his defense — questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was an “embarrassing day in American history” and labeled the allegations “purely political.”
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s most frequent allies, said: “This verdict says more about the system than the allegations.”
And while Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell refrained from attacking the judge or jury, he said the charges “should never have been brought.”
Many Republican lawmakers, including Johnson, visited the New York courthouse to support Trump during his criminal trial.
Donald Trump may have been convicted of a crime and lives in Florida, a state notorious for restricting felons’ voting rights, but he can still vote as long as he stays out of jail in New York state.
That’s because Florida follows other states’ disenfranchisement rules for residents convicted of out-of-state crimes. In Trump’s case, New York’s law only strips them of their right to vote if they are in prison. Once they are released from prison, their rights are automatically restored — even if they are on parole, under a 2021 law passed by the state’s Democratic Legislature.
“If a Floridian’s right to vote is restored in the state of conviction, they will be restored under Florida law,” Blair Bowie of the Campaign Legal Center wrote in a post explaining the rule of law, noting that people without the legal Trump’s resources are often confused by Florida’s complex rules.
Donald Trump’s conviction on Thursday on 34 crimes marked the end of the historic hush-money trial against the former president.
Now comes the sentencing and the prospect of a prison sentence. There could be a lengthy appeal, especially since Trump’s legal team has already laid the groundwork for an appeal.
And all the while, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee continues to face three more criminal cases and a campaign that could see him return to the White House.