Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a press conference following the verdict in his hush-money trial at Trump Tower on May 31, 2024 in New York City.
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump reiterated many of the claims – without evidence — about his criminal trial, a day after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“I’m the leading person for president and I’m under a gag order,” Trump said while questioning the mental acuity of his Democratic rival, President Biden. He repeated his claim that the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, was “highly conflicted.”
His remarks, from the atrium of the Trump Tower, came a day after he became the first president — former or sitting — to be found guilty of a crime. Still, legal experts have told NPR that it’s unlikely Trump will face incarceration.
The charges — for falsifying business records to conceal another crime — carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison, but Trump could receive much less serious punishment, like probation because it’s unlikely for someone who has never been convicted of a crime to go to prison … for their first offense, which is nonviolent.
If Trump doesn’t serve prison time for the New York conviction, he’s likely to be able to cast a ballot this fall.
Trump repeated claims that the New York court was “in total conjunction with the White House and the DOJ.”
Trump was convicted under New York state law and there is no evidence the White House or the Department of Justice had any role in his prosecution, which was ultimately carried out by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
This story will be updated.
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