Following the landmark conviction of former President Donald Trump in the "hush money" trial in New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the jury and said he did his job.
A jury of 12 New Yorkers found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The verdict, handed down following a six-week trial, is historic, as it makes Trump the first former president to be convicted of a crime.
Bragg didn't weigh in on whether he will ask the judge for a prison sentence, saying his team will speak instead in court filings. Trump is set to be sentenced July 11, just four days before the start of the Republican National Convention where he is poised to receive the party's nomination for president.
"While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors," Bragg said.
Prosecutors alleged that Trump authorized a plan to falsify checks and related records in an attempt to keep voters from learning about an alleged sexual encounter with Daniels in 2006. The former president had pleaded not guilty to all counts and told reporters after the verdict was read that the trial was "rigged" and the case was a "disgrace."
Bragg began his remarks by thanking the 12 jurors and alternates for their service.
"First and foremost, I want to thank the jury for its service," Bragg said. "Jurors perform a fundamental civic duty. Their service is literally the cornerstone of our judicial system."
In the face of criticism from Trump's supporters, Bragg said the "only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken."
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