Former president Donald Trump is a convicted felon.Trump was found guilty Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in an effort to guide voters’ knowledge about him prior to the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first president in US history to be found guilty of felony charges. Trump slammed the “rigged, disgraceful trial” in his first comments after a Manhattan jury found him guilty.Trump, 77, addressed reporters moments after the jury, five women and seven men, delivered its decision.“The real verdict will be November 5 by the people. I’m a very innocent man,” the former president told reporters, blaming the ordeal on President Biden."“I’m fighting for our country, I’m fighting for our constitution. We’re a nation in decline.”The President Joe Biden campaign’s made a statement on X.“There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president," read the statement.Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, only four days before the Republican National Convention where he will become the party's nominee for president.The verdict will likely spur fundraising for the Trump campaign. It's fundraising website crashed shortly after the verdict.As a first-time offender of a nonviolent crime, he would likely be released on bond in the meantime, per Reuters. “It is rare for people with no criminal history who are convicted only of falsification of business records to be sentenced to prison in New York. Punishments like fines or probation are more common,” says Reuters. A conviction will not prevent Trump from campaigning for the presidency. Nor will it prevent him from taking office if he wins. .Full Biden campaign team statement....more to come
