Trump makes history as first criminally convicted former US president

Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to corruptly influence the 2016 presidential election, marking the first-ever criminal conviction of an American president, who will now campaign once again for the White House as a convicted felon and fraud.

An emotionless Trump craned his neck to watch the jury as the historic verdict was read. The defense asked to poll the jurors who all confirmed their verdicts.

The former president – who refused to testify in his own defense – could be sentenced to up to four years in jail and faces thousands of dollars in fines. He will be sentenced on July 11.

“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump raged outside court. “I’m a very innocent man.”

His so-called hush money trial in New York marked the first-ever criminal proceedings of a current or former American president. If elected, he will be the first president to serve as a convicted felon.

A jury in Manhattan deliberated for nearly 12 hours before returning a unanimous verdict to New York Justice Juan Merchan on Thursday. He will be sentenced at a later date.

The verdict followed 17 days of witness testimony over nearly six weeks in a courtroom drama that scrutinized his alleged affairs and the power and influence he wielded to cover them up as he successfully campaigned for the White House.

Deliberations began on May 29 after 22 witnesses outlined the evidence in Trump’s months-long scheme to keep news of his sex scandals away from voters in the weeks before Election Day in 2016.

Less than one month before he was elected to the presidency, Trump directed his former attorney Michael Cohen to pay $130,000 in “hush money” to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose