It is a historic verdict. Unheard of for a former president of the United States. Shortly before 4 p.m. (local time), Thursday, May 30, the twelve jurors in the Manhattan courtroom found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts in the case of hidden payments to a former porn star , Stormy Daniels, aiming to avoid a sex scandal in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign.
After setting sentencing for July 11, Judge Merchan confirmed that the Republican 2024 presidential candidate remains at large – for now. He will therefore be able to continue campaigning, at least until the final verdict, while he fumed during each of his appearances that the trial was keeping him away from the campaign four days a week since April 15. The judge let him go free without requiring bail. He also gave the defense until June 13 to present its arguments for sentencing, and until June 27 for the prosecution to respond.
Closed prison or community service?
The New York prosecutor who investigated the case, Alvin Bragg, who welcomed the verdict on Thursday evening, did not wish to indicate whether the prosecution intended to request a prison sentence. Donald Trump theoretically faces prison time, with falsification of accounting documents punishable by a maximum of four years in New York State. But in the absence of a criminal record of the defendant, who will be 78 years old at the time of sentencing, the judge should instead sentence him to a suspended prison sentence, or to community service, as well as possibly a fine.
In any case, Donald Trump has one month to notify his intention to appeal, announced on Thursday evening by his lawyers, and then several months to do so officially. This appeal will most likely have a suspensive effect on his sentence, particularly in the event of prison time. A possible appeal trial is unlikely to be held before the presidential election.
Neither this criminal conviction nor a possible prison sentence invalidates his candidacy for the White House. If he wins, he will be able to take office in January 2025. He will, however, be unable to pardon himself or order the abandonment of these proceedings, since it is a State procedure. New York, not federal.
“True verdict on November 5”
At the end of the trial, Donald Trump repeated that the “real verdict” would not be that of the twelve New York jurors, but of tens of millions of American voters on November 5. “I am a political prisoner,” he said in a call for donations published Thursday evening, criticizing a trial instigated according to him by his Democratic opponent, outgoing President Joe Biden.
The latter, on the other hand, has been discreet. “We saw today in New York that no one is above the law,” commented his campaign team, while the president, who was with his family on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of his eldest son, did not personally react.
The impact of Donald Trump’s guilty verdict on the November 5 vote remains difficult to assess. So far, the polls show Joe Biden neck and neck with Donald Trump, even the Democrat trailing behind in certain strategic states. Donald Trump has proven, in recent years, his resistance to the trials that would have destroyed the political careers of many: impeached twice before Congress and indicted in four criminal cases, including that of New York, he However, he was widely and quickly established during the primaries as the Republican candidate for the presidential election.