May 30, 2024
After slightly less than ten hours of deliberation, a jury today found former president Donald J. Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to unlawfully influence the 2016 election.
For the first time in our history, a former president of the United States is a convicted felon.
For the first time in our history, a former president of the United States has been convicted of committing crimes to steal an election.
Republican senators could have convicted Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors in 2019. In that year, the House impeached Trump after he tried to rig the 2020 presidential election by withholding congressionally appropriated funds to support Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s 2014 invasion. He withheld the funds to try to force Ukraine president Volodomyr Zelensky to manufacture dirt on Democrat Joe Biden.
Republican senators could have convicted Trump, but they acquitted him.
Republican senators could have convicted Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors in 2021. In that year, the House impeached him after he tried to seize the presidency by instigating an attack on the U.S. Capitol and trying to rig the count of the electoral vote after Americans had elected Democrat Joe Biden.
Republican senators could have convicted Trump, but they acquitted him.
Today, twelve ordinary Americans did what Republican senators refused to do. They protected the rule of law and held Trump accountable for his attempt to rig an election.
Trump stared blankly ahead as the verdict was read. “Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.”
Trump has managed to escape accountability from the political system, but in a court of law, where prosecutors brought facts, witnesses were under oath, and jurors did not need him to keep them in positions of power, he lost.
And so he continued his assault on the rule of law. MAGA lawmakers, including House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), both of whom were involved in the events of January 6, 2021, joined him in attacking the system that produced the guilty verdicts, although they steered clear of defending Trump himself.
After the verdict, Trump turned back to politics. He went directly to the television cameras outside the courtroom, where he gave his usual speech, saying the trial was rigged, he was “a very innocent man,” and that “our country has gone to hell.” Within four minutes of the verdict, his campaign posted a fundraising pitch on social media, proclaiming, “I am a political prisoner!”
Trump has repeatedly urged his supporters to defend him with violence, but there was none reported. In some cities, there was cheering. Shares in Trump media fell sharply in after-hours trading.
Judge Juan Merchan will sentence Trump at 10:00 in the morning of July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention begins.
A spokesperson for the White House said: “We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment.”
Tonight, for the first time in our history, a former president of the United States is a convicted felon.
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Notes:
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/30/djt-stock-falls-donald-trump-found-guilty-on-34-counts.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/05/30/donald-trump-verdict-live-hush-money/
X:
BarbMcQuade/status/1796287657154093264
tylerpager/status/1796295778140656034
Thank you, 12 average Americans. A modicum of justice, delivered fairly and peacefully.
I know some expressed disappointment that what amounts to a series of paper crimes would represent Cheeto Von Tweeto's first brush with legal justice, in comparison to the other cases outstanding. I disagree. This case goes to the core of who this monster really is: a common lowlife and an utter fraud, lying and bullying with impunity. His nauseating disrespect for women, his virulent hatred of minorities, and his utter contempt for any semblance of ethics are the qualities that appealed to the lurking bigoted bullies among us that made up his base, and the facade of wealth and power propped up by a parasitic tabloid media duped the gullible beyond that base. These dynamics are the origins of his political rise without which the greater crimes would not have been possible. What poetic justice that porn stars and botched paperwork - simple sleaze, simple lies, and simple laziness - marks his first branding of GUILTY.
Today, the women he used like meat for sex and service wore bulletproof vests to provide the testimony against him. In 1989, this monster took up space in the NY Times demanding the death of innocent teens whose only crime was being black and in a park. Today, a black man of the same age and same city became the DA to take him down. In 2016, this monster began cheating his way to the White House by slandering Latinos and immigrants. Today, a distinguished jurist who happens to be a Latino immigrant decides how long the monster spends in the Big House. In too many years and instances to count, this monster fleeced average people with total contempt. Today, 12 of them took 12 hours to arrive at one word for his contempt: GUILTY.
Let's nail him and his syncophants one more time where it really hurts: at the ballot box in November. See y'all there!
It was music to my ears and Heather, I imagine it was to yours also. In fact, I was driving when I heard the news. I let out a guttural scream that I didn’t know my body could produce! As Neal Katyal said “34 for 45”.