A New York jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records with the intent to commit election fraud, making him the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a criminal offense.
Wednesday 5 June 2024 07:31, UK
Donald Trump has claimed it is “highly likely” that his political opponents will be prosecuted after he became the first former US president to be convicted of a criminal offence.
Trump In an interview with the conservative U.S. media outlet Newsmax, he appeared to hint at the possibility of this happening if Trump becomes president again.
“It’s a terrible precedent for our country,” the 77-year-old said. “Will the next president do the same to them? That’s the real question.”
He added: “So it’s a very frightening path that they’re leading us down, and it’s very possible that the same thing will happen to them.”
Trump was convicted last week. After a five-week trial in New York, he was convicted of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
The former president covered up a $130,000 (£102,000) payment to an adult film star. Stormy Daniels This was part of a “hush money” scheme to suppress information that they believed could harm the 2016 presidential election.
He repeatedly made unfounded claims about the criminal case, alleging without evidence that a unfair trial was waged against him, until the jury unanimously found him guilty on all 34 charges.
Sky’s US partner NBC News added that the insistence on going after political opponents has been a consistent theme during Trump’s campaign ahead of the November 5 election, with him frequently raising the idea of prosecuting President Joe Biden.
“I will appoint a true special counsel to go after Joe Biden, the most corrupt president in the history of America, and to go after the Biden crime family,” Trump said in June, just hours after he was arraigned in federal court in Miami on charges related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
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The recent rulings thrust the US into unchartered territory ahead of this year’s elections, which will see President Trump and Biden locked in a fierce battle for the White House.
After Trump was convicted by a New York jury, He said he would appeal.he faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
But others convicted of the same crime often receive shorter sentences, fines, or probation.
Meanwhile, Trump faces three additional criminal charges.
He also faces charges related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol and illegally retaining classified documents after leaving the White House.
And in Georgia, he is charged with conspiring to overturn his narrow loss in the state’s 2020 election.
However, no trial dates have been set for any of those cases and they are unlikely to take place before the November election.
He also has two civil lawsuits pending.
In May 2023, a New York civil jury Author E. Jean Carroll was sexually assaulted And it damaged her reputation.
He was ordered to pay $5 million (£3.96 million) and $83.3 million (£66.12 million) to her.
In February of this year, he Fines of $354.9 million (£281.6 million) A New York judge found the defendants guilty of inflating their assets to qualify for softer bank loans.
