Donald Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said he “expected” a guilty verdict in the hush money trial, and acknowledged that prison time could be on the cards for the former president.
“This is a ruling that we expected and we intend to appeal and we intend to win on appeal,” he said. Today Show Friday.
“Was I shocked or surprised by what happened? Not at all. I didn’t expect to be treated fairly in Manhattan, and I wasn’t.”
A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide $130,000 that former “fixer” lawyer Michael Cohen paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels to silence her about an alleged affair before the 2016 election.
When asked if she thought Trump would face prison time, Blanche couldn’t deny it.
“I don’t know what District Attorney Bragg plans to do between now and the sentencing in July,” he said.
“I hope that doesn’t happen. If the court guidelines and rules are followed, President Trump would not normally end up in jail,” he said.
“Setting aside the fact that he was the president of the United States, the acts we’re talking about are the acts of a 7- to 9-year-old child. He’s a husband, he’s a grandfather and he shouldn’t go to prison. I don’t know what the district attorney will do.”
“We’re going to fight.”
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
