Former President Donald Trump is convicted of all 34 counts in New York hush money trial
Watch as ITV News' Correspondent Robert Moore breaks the historic verdict
Donald Trump has been found guilty of all 34 counts in his landmark hush money criminal trial, becoming the first ex-American president in history to be convicted of felony crimes.
Prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments tied to an alleged scheme to bury stories that might adversely affect his 2016 White House bid.
Despite the late-day guilty verdict on Thursday, the former president continued to protest his innocence as he left the court.
Speaking outside the courtroom, he said denounced the trial as "rigged" and a "disgrace".
"The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people. And they know what happened here. And everybody knows what happened here," he said as he left.
Richard Ben-Veniste, the Special Prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, tells ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers what the case means for the election
Trump repeated accusations that the criminal charges were brought by the Biden administration to hurt him, as the president’s main election opponent.
"I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent," Trump said.
US president Joe Biden said on X: "There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box."
Thursday's decision followed over 11 hours deliberations from 18 jurors in a case which first began midway through April.
A sentencing hearing - which could see the former US president sent to prison for up to four years - has been set for July 11 2024.
The sentencing will be just days before the Republican National Convention where it is expected Trump will officially become the party’s nominee for president.
ITV News' US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports on how the impact of this historic verdict
Trump accused the judge of being conflicted while saying that "Mother Teresa could not beat these charges."
"What is happening here is weaponisation at a level that nobody’s seen before ever and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen," Trump said.
Ahead of the verdict, the judge requested there be "no reactions, no outbursts of any kind".
Trump denied any wrongdoing throughout the trial, held in New York City.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg originally filed the case against Trump in March 2023, charging him on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The trial focused on allegations that Trump and his allies conspired to stifle potentially embarrassing stories during the 2016 presidential campaign through hush money payments - including to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Both Daniels and McDougal claim to have been paid to keep quiet about affairs they had with Trump.
Trump denied the allegations and argued in court that neither Daniels, McDougal nor his then-attorney, Michael Cohen - who claims to have paid both actresses - can be trusted.
Cohen was one of 20 witnesses who gave evidence and testimony at the trial over the course of 15 days.
The case comes as Trump - the presumptive Republican presidential candidate - prepares to battle it out with incumbent US President Joe Biden for November's presidential election.
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