Donald Trump was officially convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30, cementing his place in the history books as the first-ever current or former president to be found guilty of criminal charges. The case related to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential election in order to keep two women from going public with their claims that they had sex with Trump. Prosecutors alleged that the payments had undermined the 2016 election.
According to the New York Times, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee presidential nominee “sat largely expressionless, a glum look on his face, after the jury issued its verdict.” His sentencing was scheduled for July 11, just days before the start of the Republican National Convention, when he will accept the party’s nomination.
We break down what the conviction means, what’s coming next, and whether this will impact the 2024 election.
What were the actual charges?
The indictment against Trump detailed specific information about the checks and business records Trump used to compensate his then-fixer and former lawyer Michael Cohen for making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. A New York jury found that Trump had faked those records to conceal the purpose of the money he provided to Cohen.,
What comes next?
Trump is likely to appeal the verdict, meaning it could be “years” before the case is formally resolved, according to the Times. Trump has insisted that this and his other criminal trials are a partisan “witch hunt” carried out by his critics, and the Republican Party has largely stood by the former president. He and President Joe Biden remain locked in a tight race for the White House ahead of the nominating conventions later this summer.
Could Trump actually go to jail?
It’s unlikely. Legal experts say the odds are slim that the former president’s criminal charges result in actual jail time. For each count, Trump could either be fined or receive a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison. (Per CNN, New York caps sentencing for this type of felony at 20 years.) As MSNBC notes, Trump has the right to appeal and “will likely remain free pending any appeal.”
Can he still run for President?
Yes. “A clean criminal record is not among the criteria the Constitution sets for who is eligible to be president,” The New York Times reports.
How will this affect the 2024 election?
Though pundits are busy conjecturing, there’s really no way to know how Trump’s conviction could affect the 2024 election. Trump has weathered countless scandals before, and polling shows a stark partisan split in attitudes towards his criminal trials. A Quinnipiac University poll from March cited by ABC News found that 55% of registered voters said a conviction in the hush money case would make "no difference" in how they voted in November.
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