Donald Trump on trial in New York: NAJ screen shot

By Glynn Wilson – 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Donald J. Trump was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal on Thursday by a New York jury, becoming the first former president to be tried and convicted of a felony.

The conviction will no doubt reverberate around the country and impact the presidential election in November.

The jury found that Trump faked records to conceal the purpose of money given to his onetime fixer, Michael D. Cohen. The false records disguised the payments as ordinary legal expenses when in fact, Trump was reimbursing Cohen for a $130,000 hush-money deal with porn star Stormy Daniels to silence her account of a sexual liaison with Trump prior to the election of 2016.

Trump sat largely expressionless in the courtroom as the verdict was read with a glum look on his face. His sentencing was scheduled for July 11.

The felony conviction calls for a sentence of up to four years behind bars, but Trump may never see the inside of a prison cell. He could receive probation when he is sentenced, and he is certain to appeal the verdict — meaning it may be years before the case is resolved.

Yet the jury’s decision is an indelible moment in America’s history, concluding the only one of four criminal cases against Trump that was likely to go to trial before Election Day.

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