24 May 2024

What Happens if Trump Is Convicted? Your Questions, Answered

NIK POPLI

As the Manhattan criminal trial of former President Donald Trump heads into the final stretch, a jury will soon deliver a verdict that could raise a series of unprecedented legal and political questions if Trump is convicted.

The presumptive Republican nominee is currently facing trial on 34 felony counts over allegations that he falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. He’s the first former President in the U.S. ever to be indicted, and while he faces three other criminal cases, the New York case will render the first verdict and may be the only case that gets to trial before the election.

Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen testified during the trial that Trump personally approved the hush-money reimbursement plan central to the criminal allegations, but questions remain about Cohen’s credibility given his history of lying and committing crimes.

Prosecutors will need to prove to jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely, but that he did so with the intent to commit or conceal another crime related to violating federal and state election laws.

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