THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY
In an unprecedented court case, former President Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony charges by a jury following his Manhattan trial.
The stunning jury conclusion was announced early Thursday evening.
Now the world waits to see whether Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, will face possible jail time.
Judge Juan Merchan, who has been accused of being biased against the 45th president, could sentence Trump to jail for up to four years for each conviction — although that outcome is considered unlikely considering Trump has never been previously convicted of a crime.
Trump had previously blasted the trial as “a disgrace” and claimed, “Mother Teresa could not beat those charges.”
“The millions and millions of dollars that are spent daily on this case. Outside, it looks like it’s Fort Knox … I’ve never seen so many policemen,” Trump had said Thursday. “Now, with Columbia University, you can plant a tent right in front of the main door no problem. NYU, just put your tent, don’t worry about it … But I just want to say that this is a very sad day for America. The whole world is watching, and it’s a very sad day for New York.”
“It’s all rigged, the whole system is rigged,” he complained.
“The outside world is watching, and the outside world is just not going to bring their business to New York,” he said Thursday morning before entering the courtroom. “And that’s going to cost the city trillions and the state trillions and trillions of dollars. Businesses are leaving and people are fleeing,”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, brought the 34 charges of falsifying business records in the first degree against Trump.
Prosecutors successfully convinced the jury that Trump had illegally falsified these business records to hide a $130,000 “hush money” payment to Stormy Daniels, a former porn star, during the 2016 election to quiet claims of an alleged affair. Trump has repeatedly denied the affair.
The jury had deliberated for a day and a half before finding Trump guilty.