Trump was charged with falsifying business records in the first degree.
Invoices for legal services
Guilty on 11 of 11 charges
Checks paid for legal services
Guilty on 11 of 11 charges
Ledger entries for legal expenses
Guilty on 12 of 12 charges
No bail, sentencing on July 11th, 4 days before the Republican convention.
Defense has until 6/13 to file motions, prosecution has until 6/27 to respond.
Trump is responding predictably. Attacking the judge and the whole process.
If you're trying to keep track of where we're at in the Trump prosecutions:
Updated 05/30/2024
New York 34 state felonies Stormy Daniels Payoff
Investigation
Indictment
Arrest
Trial
Conviction <- You Are HereGuilty, all 34 counts.
Sentencing - July 11, 2024
Washington, D.C. 4 federal felonies January 6th Election Interference
Investigation
Indictment
Arrest <- You Are Here
Trial - The trial, originally scheduled for March 4th, has been placed on hold pending the Supreme Court ruling on Presidential Immunity. They are due to hear those arguments on April 25th.
Conviction
Sentencing
Florida 40 federal felonies Top Secret Documents charges
Investigation
Indictment
Original indictment was for 37 felonies.
3 new felonies were added on July 27, 2023.
Arrest <- You Are Here
Trial - Postponed Indefinitely
Conviction
Sentencing
Other grand juries, such as for the documents at Bedminster, or the Arizona fake electors, have not been announced.
The E. Jean Carroll trial for sexual assault and defamation where Trump was found liable and ordered to pay $5 million before immediately defaming her again resulting in a demand for $10 million is not listed as it's a civil case and not a crimimal one. He was found liable in that case for $83.3 million.
There had been multiple cases in multiple states to remove Trump from the ballot, citing ineligibility under the 14th amendment.
The Supreme Court ruled on March 4th that states do not have the ability to determine eligibility in Federal elections.
Where are all the people who insisted that this would be a hung jury / acquittal? This was an easy and quick decision. I told you NYC would do this before the weekend.
To be fair, it would only have taken one jury to hang it and worrying about that makes sense. Happily thus has worked out in favour of justice, but it was not a given and people were right to fear that outcome. Hopefully we will see the predicted change in likely voting outcomes from unaffiliated voters and thus can be the end of MAGA over the next couple of election cycles.
Hey, I was one of those, I'm happy to be wrong. The other person is right, I am now changing it up to say he won't see any actual punishment.
This guy has been violating court orders over and over. Any of the rest of us would be in prison by now. I'll believe in jail time or a fine that actually hurts him when I see it.
Man... As the verdicts rolled in, I could genuinely feel my stress fading. This fucker has finally, finally been forced to experience a negative repercussion for his actions, and I can't wait to see him experience more.
If the sentences are punitive monetary fines, then his “consequences” are nothing more than he’s ever had to deal with. He’ll just keep doing what he’s always been doing and raid the Republican money chest to pay his expenses.
I found out the verdict came out because our management team shouted in celebration during their meeting. Fair to say nothing else is getting done today.
Timeline/updates:
Judge Merchan announced that he received a note saying the jury has a verdict (4:20 PM EDT)
Merchan asked for 30 minutes for jury to complete paperwork (4:30 PM)
edt: Merchan announced that the jury asked for 30 minutes. Unclear if that was from 4:20 or when he announced it closer 4:30/4:40ish
Manhattan DA Bragg and the judge's clerk have entered the courtroom. Bragg, appropriately, sits behind the attorneys from his office who tried the case (4:55 PM)
Merchan has returned to the courtroom (5:00 PM)
NYT clarified that the jury requested 30 minutes at 4:20. They are about to enter the courtroom.
Merchan asked if both sides are ready; both sides responded affirmatively.
Jury is returning (5:05 PM)
Verdict: GUILTY on all counts
They initially read the counts 1 by 1 and then were asked if all counts were guilty counts and they replied "Yes". Trump was slack and motionless the whole time (5:10 PM)
The officer has asked if either party wants a jury poll. The defense has said they do. (5:14 PM)
Todd Blanche, defense attorney, makes a motion for the verdict to be tossed because of Cohen's testimony. Motion denied. the lawyers approached the bench. (5:16 PM)
Blanche asks for a mid-July sentencing hearing (5:17 PM)
Sentencing set for July 11th, 10am, four days before the RNC where Trump will be nominated as his party's candidate (5:18 PM)
The judge dismissed the parties after asking about Trump's bail. He announced that he will be released on his own recognizance. Trump leaves, described as red in the face, after shaking Eric's hand.
Outside the courtroom" “This was a disgrace,” Trump says. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.” (5:21 PM)
Other comments from NYT: Trump is significantly less animated than he has been as he rattles off the familiar lines that have characterized his remarks in the hallway for much of the trial. He seems more sober.
Trump spoke for less than three minutes in total. He did not answer a shouted question by a reporter who asked why Americans should vote for a convicted felon.
Other notes:
Eric appears to be the only other Trump present.
Trump was calm, descibred as "slack" during the reading of the verdicts. During jury polling, he looked at the jurors, then looked back in front of him, towards the judge.
“This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It's a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5% or 6% in this district, in this area. This was a
rigged, disgraceful trial.”
I hope the judge takes his complete lack of contrition into account when sentencing. If Cohen did time, Trump should do time.
The contempt x10, the fact Cohen did time in prison for the other side of this thing, the attacks on the judge's daughter and family, staff, intimidation of jurors and witnesses...
We were at 5% or 6% in this district, in this area.
You mean the same district that elected Rudy Ghouliani for mayor?
This was a rigged, disgraceful trial.
Rigged how? Is Convicted Felon and Sex Offender Treason Trump alleging that the 12 random jurers were secretly preselected even though his own lawyer helped select the jury? How come he is giving zero details? Because there are no details to give. Literally every court case and election that Loser Trump loses is "rigged" because his one and only strategy on everything is "Lie, Lie, Lie".
This isn't the reason. He committed fraud while paying a porn star to be quit. He did not commit a crime with the payment itself necessarily, rather in how he did it (and with the side effect of defrauding the public during an election).
Might be wishful thinking or stale in 15-30 minutes but I think they at least get him on the checks. I imagine we'll all be very disappointed if/when sentencing occurs though.
Edit: Welp, call me pleasantly surprised. Get fucked!
My secret wish is to see him get a form of community service that is supremely humiliating to someone like him. Show his distaste for actual work, undercut the persecution narrative by going "soft", and kill his campaign. Honestly though, this one is going to need a good judge. It's hard to be dispassionate when sentencing, especially in this context. Merchan seems alright, I think he'll be fair, even if I hate it because the bastard doesn't deserve anything but what he's given out.
No way his sentence is that high. He is a first time offender, and people caught on these types of charges typically get probation.
I think a few years' probation is appropriate, then he will have to campaign (and maybe even be President) while having to report to some probation officer in NYC the whole time. He might force the issue by deliberately skipping out on his meetings and double dare the judge to throw him in jail.
I'm currently watching the Trump presser the day after, and he's straight up violating his gag order, spending awhile talking about Cohen, basically saying "I can't talk about him, but his name rhymes with Mohen, they call him a fixer, and ..."
The whole thing is nuts but just thought that was a bit special.
The trial isn’t over though; He still needs to be sentenced. He has been found guilty, yes. But the courts haven’t actually decided on an acceptable punishment. That’s what will happen on the 11th.
I'd generally say that somebody who has a private jet, overseas bank accounts, and who pals around with foreign dictators is a flight risk, but that's me.
I know a lot of us are cynical and don't have high expectations for sentencing, but...
Right now, Trump's feeling pretty shitty. He has no idea how the sentencing will go. No guarantees he won't be forced to suffer. This is consume him for weeks at the least.
When he goes to sleep tonight, all he'll be thinking about is 'I could go to prison'.
You see, I don't think people like him ever feel shitty. He feels as a victim, a martyr of sorts, people like this can and will twist anything in their heads so that it proves their grandeur, their importance.
This guy goes to sleep every night thinking how great he is, and how the world is just jealous and that's why some stupid judge was out to get him.
My dad is a pathological narcissist and behaves exactly like that.
How I think this impacts things is the 'perceived' electability. Trump as a 'convicted' felon is far less electable than not-a-convicted-felon Trump.
There is a self-selection bias in poles based on if people think someone "can" win. Trump easily loses 5-10% in the polls because of this, which puts him back to nose-to-nose with Biden.
I think we see Romney maybe throw his hat in the ring. This is a referendum of the entire MAGA approach to politics which is basically utter disregard for the law. All of a sudden the door is WIDE open for challengers from within the Republican party.
Honestly surprised you didn't use the one gif from some random early episode, 10+ years before 2016, where the simpsons were predicting that trump would ruin the country as president, and Lisa had to fix things now.
Well I have been considering a FOSS/ fediverse app for better organizing my memes. I just have a big folder with key tags that I can search within right now.
I would bet $1000 that nothing meaningful happens to that slick old bastard.
There are two justice systems in this country, and Trump is in the one that's so rich that he doesn't face the same kind of meaningful consequences that we do.
I wouldn't take that bet but we have to acknowledge that this is progress. If you'd told me a year ago trump would be convicted on 34 felonies before June I'd have laughed at you.
The arc of history is long but it does bend towards justice. We are witnessing that bend now after decades of frustration. Enjoy this win at least a little bit.
It was very frustrating that just like what happened with "fake news" which was originally used to describe false news articles generated usually to help Trump, the same thing happened with the concept of a two-tier justice system. Originally describing how wealthy people like Trump don't get the same justice that poor people do, now Republicans are trying to use it to describe Republicans getting charged for things Democrats wouldn't be.
It is when they are an individual of notoriety of any kind being discussed in the media... it is just another adjective to add to their list of accolades.
Appeal ad infinitum incoming. This stain wouldn't see any repercussions until after the election, and only if he loses. I hope I'm proven wrong. Still waiting on the 400+80m to hit his pocket.
Meidas touch is a YT channel composed mostly of lawyers who take a particularly 'legal' take on the news and days events. They have MIchael Cohen as a contributor. They have former prosecutors from the NY Attorney Generals office as contributers.
I'm afraid to. Under normal circumstances, prolonged exposure to that sub may make you legally stupid. Today? You'd probably physically feel your brain turning to mush in real time.
Reading the live updates warmed the cockles of my heart! The fact this jury did its job based on all the evidence is great. That orange troll deserved this, I hope the sentencing is something that will humiliate Trump to the max; I feel so happy that this shit burglar is getting this verdict.
If he gets probation, how would that work? Normally you have to notify someone when you leave the state. That would be a full-time job for someone campaigning.
Here's something to think about... The Secret Service has stated that for now, their protective mission is unchanged. They are "authorized" to protect former presidents unless they decline that protection.
But can that authorization ultimately be revoked? Or can they perhaps petition President Biden to cease protective operations if Trump ends up sentenced to some kind of custody which would result in rendering that protection impractical?
The guy is responsible for actual American deaths. From his rhetoric, from his inaction, from his actions, and from his refusal to just leave peacefully.