Following the unprecedented trial in which former President Trump was found guilty on all charges, a few winners and losers have emerged.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office filed a 34-count indictment against Trump on first-degree charges of falsifying business records, and he was found guilty on all counts on Thursday.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and continues to maintain his innocence.
Following six weeks of court proceedings and the verdict, we introduce some of the winners and losers involved in or surrounding this case.
Trump found guilty on all charges in New York trial
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference in New York on May 30, 2024, following the conviction in the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump, who was charged with falsifying business records to hide money paid to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (Reuters)
After Trump’s verdict, Bragg praised prosecutors for “doing their job.” “The jury has spoken.”
Winner: District Attorney’s Office
Prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office ended Trump’s trial with a victory after a jury convicted him.
“I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favoritism, and that’s exactly what we did here. And I’m grateful to work alongside incredible public servants who do that every day on the issues you write about. … I did my job. We did our job. There are many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury. And the jury has spoken,” Bragg said Thursday night.
“The 12 jurors were sworn to render a verdict based on the evidence and the law, and the evidence and the law alone. As a result of their deliberations, they reached a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in order to conceal a plot to rig the 2016 election,” Bragg continued at the press conference, adding that such white-collar crimes “are at the heart of our work in justice.” Manhattan District Attorney’s Office”
But in the midst of the 2024 presidential election, with Trump leading in many opinion polls, the firm faced widespread criticism, particularly from conservatives who say the lawsuit should never have been filed in the first place.
Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. (Felipe Ramares for Fox News Digital)
After conviction, Trump promises “it’s not over” and vows to “fight to the end”
Winner: Donald Trump
Trump was found guilty on all charges, but his supporters seem unfazed by the trial. Google searches for “Donald Trump donation site” spiked and campaign fundraising site WinRed went down after the verdict was announced. The campaign is expected to reap a windfall following the verdict, which Trump called “disgraceful.”
“I’m very disappointed. I was hoping for an acquittal,” a Trump supporter told Fox News Digital outside the courtroom.
“It’s really sad. I wish this lawsuit had never been filed.”
Additionally, a recent New York Times poll released during the trial found Trump leading Biden in the majority of key battleground states. Georgia, Michigan, NevadaPennsylvania, and Arizona.
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
‘Boom’: Democrats celebrate Trump conviction as Biden considers remaining threats
Winner: Democrat
Democrats and their lawmakers held victory marches following Trump’s conviction, including a vocal voice in President Biden’s reelection campaign who trumpeted, “Today in New York, we saw that no one is above the law.”
“Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed that he could break the law for his own self-interest and not face punishment. But today’s verdict does not change the simple reality facing the American people: The only way to keep Donald Trump from the Oval Office is through the ballot box. With or without a conviction, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement after the verdict.
Other Democrats who frequently spar with Trump and Republicans, such as Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said, “Despite his attempts to distract, delay and deny, justice was ultimately served for President Donald Trump.”
“It matters that the Republican nominee for president is a convicted felon,” posted Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.
“Boom,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, R-Iowa, said in a brief post on X.
Former US President Donald Trump watches as New York State Prosecutor Christopher Conroy speaks before Judge Juan Marchan during a hearing to discuss a gag order that would bar Trump from publicly criticizing witnesses or associates in his criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide payments made to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, at a state court in Manhattan, New York City, US, on April 23, 2024. In this courtroom sketch, (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Trump says guilty verdict is a ‘scar’ on New York’s justice system, vows to ‘keep fighting’
Losers: The legal system
The word “loafer” became a term frequently used by legal experts during the litigation, with Trump himself arguing that the Biden administration was pursuing the lawsuit to undermine his chances of retaking the White House in November.
“Bragg’s plan was to manipulate the justice system with false criminal charges in order to damage and delegitimize Trump’s eligibility as a presidential candidacy. This was classic ‘loafer’ fraud, weaponizing the statute not for any violation of the law but because the defendants pose a political threat,” Fox News legal analyst Greg Jarrett wrote in an opinion piece published by Fox Digital this week.
Jarrett’s comments echo what many other legal experts have said throughout the trial: that a legal battle has taken place and that the case has damaged the entire justice system.
“We’re seeing a justice system really broken and degenerate,” Turley said on Fox News, referring to the “selective prosecution” of Trump.
“One of the things that’s at stake right now is the judiciary, our system of government. I can’t stress enough how our justice system has been abused under this administration by local prosecutors, state prosecutors and federal prosecutors fighting each other in court,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference outside a Manhattan courtroom earlier this month.
New York Republican Assemblywoman Elise Stefanik also filed an ethics complaint against Chief Judge Juan Marchan for alleged conflicts of interest related to her daughter’s representation of Democratic politicians and political action committees, and wrote separate letters to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Office of the Inspector General of the New York State Unified Court System warning of “potential misconduct” in Judge Marchan’s repeated appointments to cases involving Trump and his allies.
“We are left to suspect that the ‘random selection’ of appointing Acting Judge Marchan, a Democratic donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans is in fact not random at all,” Stefanik wrote in the letter.
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 30: Former US President Donald Trump appears for his hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 30, 2024. Judge Juan Marchan issues instructions to the jury as deliberations enter their second day. Former President Trump is facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in his first trial in a criminal case. (Photo by Seth Wenig Pool/Getty Images)
Loser: Donald Trump
If Trump is convicted, the 45th president could face prison or even house arrest. Trump could run for the White House from prison because the Constitution places no restrictions on presidential candidates based on their criminal history. The Constitution requires that anyone seeking the White House must be a native-born U.S. citizen at least 35 years of age.
The 45th president’s sentence is scheduled to be handed down on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee later this month. Trump vowed on Thursday to “fight to the end” after a “fraudulent and disgraceful trial.”
“This has been a fraudulent and dishonorable trial. The true verdict will be handed down by the American people on November 5th,” Trump said outside the courtroom on Thursday.
“This has been an unjust decision from day one, by a conflicted judge who should never have been allowed to try this case. Never. We will fight for the Constitution. This is far from over.”
Actor Robert De Niro (center) points at a supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) as he exits after a news conference outside Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, U.S., Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to stifle allegations of extramarital sex during his 2016 presidential campaign. (Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Karl Rove: Robert De Niro’s ‘exaggerated’ accusations were a ‘stupid mistake’ by Biden campaign
Loser: Robert De Niro
Actor Robert De Niro faced backlash late into the trial after publicly claiming that Trump could “destroy the world” as he headlined a Biden-Harris campaign event in Manhattan.
“Donald Trump not only wants to destroy “He’s not going to destroy cities, he’s going to destroy countries and ultimately potentially the world,” De Niro said at a press conference this week at a campaign event not attended by President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.
De Niro’s comments led his supporters to label him a “failed actor” and “trash”, and accuse him of being a “pay-for-play for the DNC”.
“You’re an idiot,” De Niro yelled at one pro-Trump protester.
The incident was subsequently slammed by critics on social media as a “terrible reflection on the Democratic Party” and compared to the satirical political comedy show “Veep.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
“This was way too much and was completely unhelpful. And Biden camp. It gives Democratic leaders even more reason to be concerned about him being their party’s likely nominee,” Fox News contributor Karl Rove previously said of De Niro’s comments.
