Trump After Guilty Verdict: ‘Hush Money’ Trial Rigged, Disgraceful
22:50 GMT 30.05.2024 (Updated: 05:49 GMT 31.05.2024)
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Former US President Donald Trump said that the so-called "hush money" trial, in which he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels, was rigged and disgraceful.
"This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt," Trump said on Thursday at the courthouse, following the jury’s decision, and adding that the real verdict will occur on Election Day on November 5.
Trump has repeatedly characterized the case as a form of election interference amid the 2024 US presidential election.
A New York jury’s decision to convict former President Donald Trump marks the end of the United States’ justice system as the fairest in the world, US journalist Tucker Carlson said.
"This won’t stop Trump. He’ll win the election if he’s not killed first. But it does mark the end of the fairest justice system in the world," Carlson said, adding that anyone who defends the verdict is a danger to Americans and their families.
White House Counsel’s Office spokesperson Ian Sams said that the White House respects the rule of law and has no additional comment regarding the New York jury delivering a guilty verdict in former President Donald Trump's "hush money" case.
"We respect the rule of law and have no additional comment," Sams said in a statement on Thursday.
Former President Donald Trump's conviction in the so-called "hush money" case if part of the Democrats' plan to destroy their biggest political opponent, US Congressman Paul Gosar said.
"I completely disagree with this shameful verdict," Gosar said in a press release on Thursday. "This trial has been a sham from the beginning and while I am angry with the decision, I am not at all surprised by the Democrats’ actions and efforts to silence and destroy their greatest political opponent and threat."
The Biden administration said that the guilty verdict the New York jury delivered in Trump's "hush money" case shows that no one in the United States is above the law.
Trump always mistakenly believed that he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain, but the American people can only keep him out of the Oval Office through voting regardless of the verdict, the statement said.
"The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater. He is running an increasingly unhinged campaign of revenge and retribution, pledging to be a dictator 'on day one' and calling for our Constitution to be 'terminated' so he can regain and keep power," the statement said.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson called the verdict a shameful day in history. The American people will recognize the case as a form of so-called "lawfare," Johnson said, adding that Trump will successfully appeal the verdict.
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) issued a statement saying Trump’s political opponents know they cannot defeat him at the ballot box so they are resorting to other means.
The so-called "lawfare" against Trump will backfire, the statement said, adding that the verdict marks a tragic day in US history.
The jury deliberated all day. And around 4::15p.m., Judge Juan Merchan announced that he would send the jury home at 4:30 p.m. However, the judge returned to the courtroom shortly afterward and announced that the jury had agreed on a verdict. Another half hour later the verdict was announced.
The jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump listened to the verdict in silence.
The jury’s decision makes Trump the first president in US history to have been convicted of a felony.
