The jury has reached its verdict in The People of the State of New York v. Donald Trump, the former president’s historic so-called “hush money” trial. After four weeks of contentious testimony by star witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense, the trial finally reached the final stages as both the defense and prosecution issued their closing arguments on Tuesday, May 28.
After jury instructions and several requests for repeated information, including portions of the testimony presented to them as well as the judge’s instructions, the Manhattan jury made its determination after two days of deliberation.
Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts in the case.
Trump was first charged on March 30, 2023, by District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 Class E felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 presidential election.
Eleven counts related to invoices from Michael Cohen; nine were related to general ledger entries for Donald Trump; nine were for checks from Trump; three were for general ledger entries from Trump’s revocable trust; and two were related to checks from Trump’s revocable trust.
It was the first indictment of a former U.S. president ever and was approved by a grand jury and thus the first conviction of the same.
The trial began on April 15, 2024, and was presided over by Judge Juan Merchan, who found The Apprentice star to have been in contempt of court 10 times throughout the proceedings due to his social media messages about the case, the judge, and witnesses.
Trump was accused of paying $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her from revealing their affair during his campaign, through his attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. Cohen was previously convicted of crimes related to the matter and testified against Trump at the trial. The 34 counts of falsifying business records relate to invoices, ledgers, checks, and other documents related to the payment, which were alleged to be falsely listed as legal expenses.
This is the first of several criminal trials Trump is expected to endure in the coming months. He was separately indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2023 with allegations that he mishandled classified documents that were found after an FBI raid of his Palm Beach, Florida, estate. That case has been subject to several delays issued by the Trump-appointed judge, who will await a Supreme Court decision over Trump’s claim to absolute executive immunity before the documents case can move forward.
In August 2023, Trump was again indicted by a federal grand jury — this time, in Washington, D.C. — for his efforts to overturn the results of the election, including counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceed; and conspiracy against the right to vote and have one’s vote counted. That same month, a Fulton County, Georgia, a grand jury returned another series of indictments related to Trump’s actions in and around the 2020 presidential election — this time, for racketeering and conspiracy.