Then the judge revealed that the jury didn’t want to go home: they had reached a verdict, they just needed a few more minutes to finish filling out the long form with all 34 counts. Instantly, Trump’s demeanor changed: he crossed his arms, frowned, pursed his lips, and braced himself for judgment.
The sudden turnaround brought a dramatic end to the seven-week criminal trial that is expected to define the current campaign and this entire chapter of American history, making Trump both the first former president convicted of a crime and the first presumptive candidate of a major party presenting himself as a criminal. In their immediate responses to the verdict, Trump and President Biden’s campaign agreed that the final finding would be made during next November’s election.
“It’s okay, I’m fighting for our country,” Trump told reporters in the courthouse hallway immediately after the verdict. “We will fight to the end and we will win.”
Trump was already focusing his campaign on fighting these secret payment lawsuits before the 2016 election as well as three other criminal indictments, accusing him of mishandling classified documents and trying to overturn his defeat 2020 election. That emphasis is sure to intensify with Thursday’s verdict, as Trump’s advisers have indicated the campaign will seek to portray him as a martyr to energize his supporters — and to run against the Justice Department and the judicial system.
A person close to Trump said the trial would only make him more determined to win in November, and some of his advisers believed it would only increase the intensity of his core supporters.
“He’s a convicted felon 34 times now,” said this person, who like others in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations or campaign operations. “He knows he has to win.”
Another person close to Trump wrote: “Trump is now running for his freedom. Attention!!”
The campaign quickly responded to the verdict with a fundraising appeal declaring: “I AM A POLITICAL PRISONER!” — adapting the term Trump uses to describe his accused supporters in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Councilors said the verdict led to an increase in campaign contributions. WinRed, the main website used by Republicans for online fundraising, temporarily generated error messages for some users. Campaign spokesman Brian Hughes said the site had received “record” traffic, causing “intermittent delays.” Councilman Chris LaCivita encouraged his supporters to try again.
The shadow of conviction over the campaign is also set to grow as the Biden camp breaks its silence on the matter. Throughout the trial, the White House and campaign avoided commenting directly on the accusation, out of sensitivity to Trump’s claim, without evidence, that the Manhattan district attorney brought the charges at Biden’s direction . Biden, who became angry with the Justice Department itself over its handling of his classified documents and his son’s court cases, wanted to respect the DOJ’s traditional independence, his advisers say.
Now that a jury has found Trump guilty, the Biden campaign has indicated it will not hesitate to highlight that judgment to voters.
“Today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people are facing a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: through the ballot box,” said Biden spokesperson Michael Tyler. “He is waging an increasingly disorderly campaign of revenge and retaliation. »
While both campaigns and both parties were already very hardened in their opinions of Trump and his case, some analysts were quick to downplay the outcome’s effect on voters.
“The message of the campaign is: What did you expect from a New York City jury? said David Urban, a longtime Trump ally. “On the contrary, I think it annoys Republicans who say ‘enough’. This is where we are.
The asset The campaign is seeking to cast the verdict as a factor in hardening the intensity of his supporters, while trying to convince independents and even some Democrats that the justice system is being used unfairly against him. The former president, those close to him say, loves to play the role of martyr or victim. He often speaks about these cases at fundraisers and rallies, saying they only help his poll numbers.
Trump said he would speak again at a news conference Friday morning. His campaign sought to preempt Thursday’s verdict with a poll note indicating that they had asked voters about the potential conviction and that it was not significant in key battleground states, nor a potential acquittal . The memo said the majority of voters viewed the trial as politically motivated and did not follow it closely.
“Yes, it’s a big deal, and yes, it’s uncharted territory, but we’ve been through a lot of big deals and uncharted territory with Donald Trump over the last decade and this ultimately hasn’t been a big problem,” the Republican said. said strategist Terry Sullivan. “Anyone predicting this is his end hasn’t been paying attention, and he’s often very good at turning things like this into something positive and all his messages have been that the system is rigged, they’re trying to keep me from being your candidate, and that plays a role in this story.”
Republican politicians rushed to Trump’s defense, with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) calling him “unbelievable” in an online video, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warning: “This will be seen as politically motivated and unfair, and it will backfire hugely against the political left.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley called Republicans’ embrace of Trump’s conviction and rejection of the judicial process “staggering.”
“A group of New York jurors deliberated and were able to tell right from wrong,” Brinkley said. “This is a great moment for the founders of our republic, because they created a system of checks and balances and the judiciary still functions.”
Trump’s instant reaction to the first charge of “guilty” is lost to history. Reporters in the courtroom were behind him, unable to see his face. Reporters watching on a closed-circuit video feed in the next room lost signal as the tallies were being read. By the time the video showing Trump’s face came back, as he was about to be convicted on all counts, he was sitting solemnly, slumped slightly in his chair, blinking and frowning eyebrows.
He looked at the jury as each individually affirmed that this was their verdict, then they filed past him, avoiding his gaze while he avoided theirs. Blanche rubbed her face and ran her hand through her hair, then asked Judge Juan Merchan to overturn the verdict. Trump leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes back to look at Blanche standing there, then at the table in front of him. Merchan refused to throw out the verdict and set sentencing for July 11, a week before Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination.
Trump looked red as he walked out grimacing. He stopped just outside the courtroom doors to huddle with his aides, including Jason Miller, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt and Boris Epshteyn. He then approached the surveillance camera installed in the hallway to speak to journalists, as he did throughout the trial.
His comments were similar: criticizing the judge, the venue, the prosecutors. But this time he lowered his head a little, hissed a little more at the word “shame,” spat a little more while repeating the word “rigged.”
“I am a very innocent man,” he insisted.
Trump had spent the trial trying to stay positive, cracking jokes in his New York penthouse with guests, attending major fundraisers across the country and participating in campaign strategy meetings. He has privately told people his poll numbers will rise, but the experience of being at the courthouse is “miserable,” Trump said, according to an adviser, and he is ready to return to Florida.
“There has never been a mistreated president like me,” Trump told donors at a private event last week, comparing his treatment to that of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.
During the trial, he occasionally expressed frustration with his lawyers, particularly Blanche, but appeared to lighten up after his aggressive cross-examination of Michael Cohen. He often became personally involved in the legal arguments and elements of his defense – even if he appeared to be sleeping at other times.
Privately, Trump had often expressed surprise at being accused of crimes. “Can you believe it?” he asked advisors. “I am accused of crimes. Can you believe it?”
Afterwards, however, although he told others that the verdict was not surprising, he was confronted with a fact he had feared: he was now a criminal.
washingtonpost
