Donald Trump reportedly was red in he face and frowned as he became the first US president to be convicted in a criminal trial after jurors in his hush money trial found him guilty.
The jury of 12 New Yorkers on Thursday afternoon found Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records around a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump stood up as jurors exited Manhattan Criminal Court, wearing a frown on his face, according to The New York Times. His eyes were downcast.
The former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee was ‘red in the face’ and he and his son Eric Trump, who sat behind him in the courtroom, appeared upset, CNN reported. Trump frowned and grabbed his son’s hand and shook it rapidly, then they began walking out of the courtroom.
‘Our whole country is being rigged right now,’ Trump told reporters as he left the courtroom, where he spent seven weeks attending his historic trial.
‘This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent.’
Jurors deliberated for more than 11 hours, starting on Wednesday morning and reaching a verdict at the end of the second day.
Late afternoon on Thursday, Justice Juan Merchan said he had received a note from the jury foreperson at 4.20pm stating they had reached a verdict.
Trump was ‘smiling a minute ago’ before the judge’s announcement and became ‘suddenly serious’, The Times reported.
He crossed his arms across his chest and whispered to his lawyers, the newspaper reported.
Trump was leaning back on his chair when the judge walked in, and maintained a straight face.
‘Please let there be no reactions, no outbursts of any kind,’ said Merchan, according to CNN.
Trump’s second eldest son, Eric Trump, sat behind him in the courtroom.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg entered the courtroom and sat behind prosecutors who tried the case for him.
Jurors asked for an additional 30 minutes to fill out their verdict sheet.
The courtroom scene was tense and Trump sat ‘very still’ and with his head slightly tilted to the right as they awaited jurors to enter, according to The Times.
How long it would take for the jury to come to a verdict was not initially known, as deliberations in all trials can take hours, days, and even weeks.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to silence her during his 2016 campaign on an alleged sexual affair.
The ex-president has denied reimbursing his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the hush payment, as well as any sexual encounter with Daniels.
Trump faced a sentence from probation to four years behind bars if convicted.
Shortly after the jury began deliberating on Wednesday, Trump told reporters outside the courtroom that the charges against him and the whole trial is ‘rigged’ and compared himself to a Roman Catholic saint.
‘And we have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted he can’t breathe. He’s got to do his job. It’s a disgrace,’ said Trump.
‘Mother Teresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do. It’s a very disgraceful situation.’
Also on the first day, the ex-president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, shared a TikTok video showing him appearing light-hearted and writing ‘mean tweets’ at a table with junk food including candies and a Diet Coke.
This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
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