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TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

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Jury Hands Down Historic Conviction in Hush-Money Case

  • Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his ascent to the White House in 2016.
  • He is the first American president to be declared a felon, a stain he will carry as he seeks to regain the presidency.

 

Donald Trump has become America’s first felon president.

12 min read

HOW THE PROSECUTION WON
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
For years, the fate of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into Donald Trump was in serious doubt. Some people predicted it would be the downfall of the district attorney, Alvin Bragg. Here's how Bragg's team upended expectations, and won →
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
Let's start with the fine print of New York State law, which gave prosecutors a big boost. Bragg's team needed to show only that Trump “caused” the business records to be false, rather than that he orchestrated the scheme or personally falsified the records.
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
But to make the case that Trump’s actions rose to the level of a felony, they also had to show that he falsified the records to conceal a second crime. Bragg, a career prosecutor and something of a legal wonk, pushed his prosecutors to scour the penal code for a workable theory.
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
Bragg settled on an argument that Trump had violated an obscure state election law. Over the course of six weeks and the testimony of 20 witnesses, prosecutors wove a sprawling story of election interference and falsified business records, convincing 12 New Yorkers that Trump was guilty of felony crimes.
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
They called many of Trump’s former employees and allies like David Pecker and Hope Hicks, who prosecutors argued had no motive to fabricate their testimony. If anything, these witnesses had an incentive to skew it to help the former president.
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
Their testimony, coupled with thousands of pages of documentary evidence and Trump’s own words, boosted the prosecution's case before the jurors heard from two key witnesses whose credibility would be aggressively attacked: Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
By the time Daniels and Cohen were called to the witness stand, they needed only to fill in the gaps. Daniels described a sexual encounter in 2006 while Cohen described Trump’s directive to pay off Daniels (“Just do it,” Cohen recalled Trump saying).
Kate Christobek
Kate Christobek
“The name of the game was concealment,” Joshua Steinglass, one of the prosecutors, said in his closing argument. “And all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited most, the defendant, former President Donald Trump.”

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Opinion

The Editorial Board

Donald Trump, Felon

The former president’s conviction in a New York criminal trial revealed, yet again, why he is unfit for office.

4 min read

Renato Mariotti

How Trump’s Team Blew It

The defense failed to focus on the most important things.

4 min read

Frank Bruni

Frank Bruni

Trump Is Guilty, but It May Not Matter

5 min read

President Biden Allows Ukraine to Use U.S. Weapons to Strike Inside Russia

White House officials said Mr. Biden’s policy shift extended only to what they characterized as acts of self-defense so that Ukraine could protect Kharkiv.

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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Target Russian Nuclear Radar Stations

A radar facility more than 1,100 miles into Russia was damaged, satellite imagery showed. The attacks have drawn concern from U.S. officials.

3 min read

Amid Dysfunction in the House, a Wave of Seasoned Legislators Is Retiring

Retirees from both parties, including committee chairs and rising stars, say that serving in Congress is no longer worth the frustration.

9 min read

Representative Ken Buck seen from behind as he walks up a stairway.

Several G.O.P. Senate candidates embraced anti-abortion views. Now they are changing their positions.

8 min read

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Chief Justice Rejects Call for Justice Alito’s Recusal in Jan. 6 Cases

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. wrote that individual justices decide when to recuse themselves, rejecting requests to force Justice Samuel Alito Jr.’s recusal.

3 min read

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The Great Read

Sarah McLachlan Is Resurfacing

The songwriter became a superstar through a series of defiant decisions. After slowing down to be a single mother, she returned to the stage and studio.

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Why Are People So Down About the Economy? Theories Abound.

We asked economic officials, the woman who coined “vibecession” and Charlamagne Tha God what they think is happening.

6 min read

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LIVE

A 12-Year-Old From Tampa, Fla., Wins Scripps National Spelling Bee

In a dramatic finish, Bruhat Soma defeated Faizan Zaki, a 12-year-old from Plano, Texas, in the competition’s second spell-off ever.

 

One of the contestants stands at a microphone on stage. The Scripps National Spelling Bee logo hangs above her.

At the Scripps bee, hard work, not age, can spell success.

3 min read

Egypt Faces Hard Choices After Israeli Seizure of Gaza’s Southern Border

Egypt’s government is weighing its relationship with Israel against the economic damage the war in Gaza is inflicting and against the domestic outrage.

5 min read

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PTSD Has Surged Among U.S. College Students

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among college students rose to 7.5 percent in 2022, researchers found.

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Opinion

Jonathan Alter

Jonathan Alter

‘Is That Your Verdict?’ As Trump Seethes, a Jury Says ‘Yes.’

3 min read

An illustration of the courthouse in Manhattan.
Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman

What if This Is Our Last Real Election?

4 min read

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson

What Kind of Country Do You Want? Start With Taxes.

7 min read

Katherine Miller

Katherine Miller

How ‘Election Integrity’ Can Change the People Around Trump

6 min read

Nicholas Kristof

Nicholas Kristof

Less Marriage, Less Sex, Less Agreement

5 min read

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Jamie Raskin: If Justices Alito and Thomas Won’t Recuse Themselves, There Is a Solution

8 min read

Pamela Paul

Pamela Paul

And Now, a Real-World Lesson for Student Activists

5 min read

David French

David French

‘Ukraine Has Gone Through a Terrible Period’: A Q. and A. With Frederick and Kimberly Kagan

13 min read

What’s in Our Queue? ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and More

Katrina Miller
Katrina MillerWriting from Chicago

I just wrapped up a reporting fellowship at The Times, covering space, physics and the intersection of science and society. It’s a job that immerses me in all things science, so in my free time, I like to escape into other realms.

Here are five things I’ve been indulging in lately →

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The EveningNewsletter

Donald Trump Is the First U.S. President to Be Declared a Felon

President Biden will allow Ukraine to use U.S. weapons in Russia, John Lennon’s guitar sells at auction and more.

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