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Donald Trump guilty on all counts in hush-money trial, New York jury finds
Former United States President Donald Trump has been found guilty in a historic criminal hush-money trial, in a decision that could shake up the 2024 election campaign.
He has become the first US president, past or present, to be charged and convicted of a crime.
A New York City jury delivered the verdict on Thursday afternoon after a seven-week-long trial – and it found Trump guilty on all 34 counts he faced.
Prosecutors had called nearly two dozen witnesses to testify, and after closing arguments concluded on Tuesday, the jury took two days to render a verdict.
Trump was accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents in relation to a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election.
Prosecutors argued that Trump attempted to cover up the payment in an effort to improve his chances in the race, which he ultimately won.
The former Republican president, who is set to face off against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in November’s election, had pleaded not guilty.
He now faces a prison sentence of up to four years for each felony count, though court observers say it is unlikely he will face time behind bars, as opposed to probation or community service.
At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, a sentencing date was set for July 11, at the request of defence lawyer Todd Blanche. That hearing falls four days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, where Trump is expected to be officially recognised as the party’s presidential nominee.
Outside the courtroom, Trump briefly spoke to reporters, saying, “This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people. And they know what happened here.” He also hinted at a much-anticipated appeal, reiterating that he is “a very innocent man”. “We will fight for our constitution. This is long from over. Thank you very much,” he said as he quickly turned and left.
Reporters, meanwhile, shouted questions as he walked away: “Why should voters vote for a convicted felon?”
“Are you going to drop out?”
Tensions were high in the courtroom in the lead-up to the jury’s decision. Moments before the jury announced it had reached a verdict, Judge Juan Merchan appeared prepared to wind down the closed-door deliberations for the day, announcing a cut-off at 4:30pm local time.
But at 4:20, a note from the jury arrived, announcing the impending verdict and asking for 30 more minutes to fill out forms.
A silence fell over the room. Judge Merchan warned the courtroom against any outbursts. In the audience sat District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who announced the 34-count indictment against Trump on April 4, 2023, as well as Trump’s supporters, including his son Eric.
As the guilty verdict was read, court observers noted that Trump looked emotionless, his eyes downcast.
But before the proceedings ended, Blanche, the defence lawyer, made a last-ditch effort to have the verdict nullified, citing what he called problems with key testimony from Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
“We move for a judgment of acquittal,” Blanche told Judge Merchan. “There’s no basis and no way this jury could have reached a verdict without accepting the testimony of Michael Cohen.”
The judge, however, quickly denied the motion, and with that, he thanked the jurors and ended the proceedings. “You’re excused with the gratitude of the court,” Merchan told the 12 jury members.
The New York case was one of four criminal indictments Trump faced. It is likely to be the only one to go to trial before the November election.
Melanie Sloan, a former prosecutor and government ethics expert, told Al Jazeera the guilty verdict is likely to drive a wedge between Trump and more moderate constituencies.
“He knows this is a political problem. He knows there are a lot of Americans who might be willing to put up with a lot of stuff from Mr Trump, but convicted by a jury of 12? That might be a bridge too far for the independent voters who are on the fence about Donald Trump,” she said. “They might have liked his economic policies, but they don’t like all the drama.”
Sloan also dismissed the notion that the trial was orchestrated by members of the Biden administration, something Trump suggested as he left the court.
“How can President Biden be behind any of this? This is a state court. President Biden didn’t appoint this judge, didn’t appoint this prosecutor. He has literally no role in a state prosecution.”
But Al Jazeera correspondent John Hendren pointed out that Trump’s base will nevertheless see political motives undergirding the conviction – and they may be galvanised by Thursday’s decision.
“It is interesting to see that so far nothing has really tainted his appeal among his die-hard supporters,” he said.
“With each of the 91 charges he faces in each of four cases, his popularity actually rose among Republicans. So it hasn’t hurt him among them. What is likely to happen, though, is there are likely going to be people in the middle who might look at this differently.”
Still, Republicans rallied to Trump’s support in the aftermath of the verdict, raising questions about the decision – and its political implications.
“Today is a shameful day in American history,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.
Like the defence team, Johnson questioned whether the testimony of Cohen, a disbarred lawyer and a former member of Trump’s inner circle, should have been allowed in court.
Cohen himself was convicted in 2018 over the hush-money payment and sentenced to prison. But given his proximity to Trump during the 2016 election – and his involvement in the hush-money deal – prosecutors relied on him to reveal the inner workings of Trump’s finances.
“Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon,” Johnson said. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, reacted by calling the verdict evidence of the US’s decline.
“The Democrats have succeeded in their years long attempt to turn America into a third-world ****hole,” he wrote on social media, using an expletive. He appealed to voters to back his father: “November 5 is our last chance to save it.”
Members of the Biden campaign likewise used the verdict to rally voters, highlighting the decision in the context of the election.
“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement.
“But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”
But the verdict elicited reactions beyond Washington, DC, even having ripple effects in the stock market.
Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, a company in which Trump is the majority stakeholder, dipped by 14 percent in the immediate aftermath of the decision. The company went public last March
Cohen, whose testimony proved pivotal to the prosecution, also weighed in on social media, sharing a photo of a TV screen showing the network MSNBC carrying Thursday’s news.
“Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law,” he wrote. “While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”
A little more than two hours after the verdict was read, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg gave a news conference, acknowledging the contribution of the 12 jurors and six alternates in the case.
“Jurors perform a fundamental civic duty. Their service is literally the cornerstone of our judicial system,” he said.
He noted the “everyday New Yorkers” on the jury heard lengthy testimony from 22 witnesses and reviewed documents ranging from cheques to accounting ledgers.
“The 12 everyday jurors vowed to make a decision based on the evidence and the law – and the evidence and the law alone. Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion, beyond a reasonable doubt, that this defendant, Donald J Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election.
“And while this defendant might be 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 comes through the courtroom doors: by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favour.”
Bragg declined to answer reporter questions about whether prosecutors would pursue a prison sentence. He also defended his decision to bring the case to trial: “I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law.”
(Aljazeera)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
