The twelve-person jury seated for former President Donald J. Trump‘s Manhattan-based hush money trial has handed down a verdict of guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The trial, which began on April 22 and ran through this past Tuesday, saw seventeen days of witness testimony and arguments. District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the 34 felony charges against the former President, pinned much of his case on the testimony of serial perjurer and disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen.
With the guilty verdict, the former President could face upwards of 130 years in prison. However, it is more likely that Judge Merchan will order Trump placed on probation or house arrest — though even then the sentence could be suspended pending appeal. The sentencing hearing has been set for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention.
DUBIOUS PROSECUTION.
Over the last month, jurors heard from a whose-who of seedy New York media and political scene personalities, including David Pecker, the former CEO of American Media, Inc. (AMI) and publisher of the National Enquirer; pornographic actress and adult entertainer Stormy Daniels; seedy Hollywood entertainment lawyer Keith Davidson; and disbarred attorney Michael Cohen, who was deemed “perverse” and a “serial perjurer” by a federal judge. Other witnesses included several figures in the Trump Organization and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.
Bragg’s entire case was built on legally dubious grounds, as each of the 34 felony counts for falsifying business records is typically charged as a misdemeanor in New York and has a two-year statute of limitations. However, the Manhattan DA alleged that the creation of the false records was done in the act of committing another crime — though prosecutors never clarified what that crime was. They’ve alluded to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign finance violation, a vague accusation of “interference in the 2016 election,” and a federal tax crime. Both infractions are federal offenses and were not pursued by Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) nor the (FEC).
BIDEN GOVERNMENT LAWFARE.
From the start, it was clear that the prosecution of former President Trump was part of a broader lawfare campaign by the Biden government to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. Matthew Colangelo, a former attorney with the Biden DOJ, left his lucrative career to instead work as an assistant prosecutor under Bragg, specifically for the Trump case. The National Pulse reported that while serving as a federal attorney, Colangelo engaged in a series of politically biased lawfare campaigns against conservative groups and Republican lawmakers dating back to 2011.
Joe Biden has publicly cheered on Bragg’s prosecution — adding further credence to accusations that the 81-year-old Democrat incumbent’s White House is orchestrating the lawfare campaign against Trump.
BIASED JUDGE AND HIS DAUGHTER.
Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, refused to recuse himself despite a mountain of evidence showing he held personal conflicts with the case. The National Pulse reported extensively on the Democrat-aligned judge and his daughter Loren Merchan‘s ties to national Democrat politicians and anti-Trump dark money groups.
Concerns over Judge Merchan’s motivations and bias culminated with a report by The National Pulse exposing that Loren Merchan’s client, Congressman Daniel Goldman (D-NY), had prepped the prosecution’s star witness, Michael Cohen, for his cross-examination.
A CRIME AGAINST JUSTICE.
Meanwhile, Cohen admitted on the witness stand to stealing upwards of $60,000 from the Trump Organization. Additionally, he was unable to corroborate his story regarding a phone call between himself and former President Trump, where he claimed he confirmed the hush money payment had been made to Stormy Daniels. The disgraced lawyer may also have committed perjury again while on the stand.
Cohen’s credibility as a witness was so lacking that even Judge Merchan acknowledged in his jury instructions that if a juror found Cohen to have lied on the stand, they were to disregard his entire testimony.
Despite Bragg‘s dubious case, Cohen‘s disastrous testimony, and Davidson and Daniels all but admitting they conspired to extort former President Trump, the jury took just 10 hours to reach their verdict.