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5 months ago
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There was a stunned silence in the park across the courtroom where a jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The news quickly swept through the large crowd of around 70 which had gathered since Thursday morning and Trump supporters were overcome with emotion.
One man was crying hysterically, others were red with rage and a few were unusually silent following the verdict.
Richie Frank, been a Trump supporter for 30 years, said the verdict was 'an eight year set up'.
A Trump supporter cries outside the Manhattan courthouse after hearing the former president was found guilty by a jury of all 34 counts of falsifying business records
Two Trump supporters hold each other in anguish as word of the verdict filters through to the crowd outside
Former President Donald Trump walks to make comments to members of the media after being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records
'The verdict is fake. Everyone was indemnified him. It's a deep state it's another country running this country,' he told DailyMail.com
'He shouldn't be locked up but if he is, Eric Trump for president.'
'Blackmail talks and that's what gets this guilty verdict. No one knows what he is guilty of.'
Meanwhile, others cheered and celebrated the news with one man screaming 'Guilty' and unveiling a banner with the same statement.
One Trump supporter and an anti-Trump protester got into a heated argument following the verdict.
Protester John Michael Lockhart told him: 'I am on the right side of justice.
'He is guilty of fraud. I am thrilled with the verdict. I came in from Louisiana for this, I have been waiting for this for eight years,' he said.
'I was running a newspaper for 25 years and I shut it down during his term of office because I was printing the truth and the people of Louisiana couldn't handle it.
'I don't put up with racists or bigots.'
Donald Trump supporters look dejected outside the Manhattan courthouse as they hear the former president was found guilty
Two members of the crowd look agitated outside the court, but it was unclear which side they were on
Trump supporters lean against the barrier outside the court, wind completely out of their sails after finding out the ex-president was found guilty
While the Trump supporter, who did not want to be named, said: 'They hate Trump it's our own people, our own people are gaslighting New Yorkers.
'This man is innocent. You don't get a fair trial in New York. I am a native new Yorker that's a dirty court.'
The former president was found guilty on all 34 felony counts after a very brief deliberation and will be sentenced on July 11.
It comes after five weeks of dramatic evidence and 22 witnesses being quizzed on the stand.
The case is the first time a former US President has faced a criminal trial.
Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and is set to take on Joe Biden in November's election.
It means the verdict could upend the 2024 White House race and prove a pivotal moment in the history of the United States.
Prosecutors had a high bar to reach in order to convince the 12-person New York jury that Trump conspired to help his 2016 election campaign by paying pornstar Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters.
A couple kisses in celebration while others celebrate in the background after finding out Trump has been found guilty
A woman holds up a banner celebrating Trump's conviction outside the courthouse
A Trump supporter wearing a MAGA hat is interviewed about the verdict outside court
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's wrapped up all the evidence and witness testimony they claimed was sufficient enough to nail Trump on 34 felony counts of 'falsifying business records.'
Trump's team tried to lay out a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen's payments to Stormy Daniels.
They also reiterated several of their strongest points, that hush money payments are not illegal and Trump solely wanted to spare his family humiliation from Stormy's alleged affair claims.
The case is the first time a former US President has faced a criminal trial.
Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and is set to take on Joe Biden in November's election.
It means the verdict could upend the 2024 White House race and prove a pivotal moment in the history of the United States.
The charges Trump faces each carry a maximum potential sentence of up to four years in prison.
Prosecutors told of a plot by Trump to 'corrupt' the 2016 election by hiding a $130,000 hush money payment by his 'fixer' Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels alleged that she and Trump had sex a decade earlier, which he has denied.
Demonstrators celebrate outside Manhattan criminal court following the verdict in former president Donald Trump's criminal trial
The case featured explosive evidence by Daniels and lifted the lid on the 'catch and kill' practices of the National Enquirer tabloid, which bought stories that could be damaging to Trump and suppressed them.
But the actual criminal charges concern something more prosaic - the reimbursements Trump signed for Cohen for the payment.
The reimbursements, paid by Trump in monthly installments, were recorded as being for legal expenses.
Prosecutors say that was a fraudulent label designed to conceal the purpose of the hush money transaction and to illicitly interfere in the 2016 election.
Defense lawyers argued that Cohen actually did substantive legal work for Trump and his family and was paid for it.
In a marathon day of closing arguments on Tuesday prosecutors and defense lawyers lawyers had one final chance to score points with jurors as they embarked on their momentous task.
The two sides offered wildly different accounts of Trump's culpability, the strength of the evidence, and the credibililty of witnesses.
Prosecutors accused Trump of trying to 'hoodwink' voters in the 2016 election by stifling embarrassing stories that could torpedo his campaign.
'The name of the game was concealment, and all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited the most: the defendant, former President Donald Trump,' prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors.
Trump supporters react as verdict was announced in the criminal trial of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
Trump supporters check their phones for information about the case as the verdict is announced
He said Daniels' story was 'messy' and 'probably makes some of you uncomfortable to hear, but that's kind of the point.
'In the simplest terms, Stormy Daniels is the motive.'
But Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche said Daniels could not be trusted.
And he branded the star prosecution witness - Cohen - as the 'greatest liar of all time,' giving him the acronym 'the GLOAT'.
Blanche said: 'President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof, period.'
Trump did not take the stand to give evidence in his own defense.
Towards the end of the trial Trump posted angrily on social media that he was the victim of a 'Kangaroo Court!' and added: 'In God We Trust!'
Jurors heard the payoff to Daniels in 2016 unfolded against the backdrop of the disclosure of a 2005 'Access Hollywood' recording in which Trump could be heard bragging about grabbing women sexually without their permission.
Had the Daniels story emerged in the aftermath of the 'Access Hollywood' scandal it would have further damaged his campaign, the court heard.
Steinglass told jurors: 'It's not about whether you like Michael Cohen. It's not about whether you want to go into business with Michael Cohen.
'It's whether he has useful, reliable information to give you about what went down in this case, and the truth is that he was in the best position to know.'
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