Donald Trump is now a convicted felon. What happens next?
CBC
Businessman. Reality-TV star. President. Convicted felon. The improbable life story of Donald Trump has an ignominious new chapter, courtesy of a New York court verdict.
Trump was found guilty on state charges of falsifying business records, in concealing payments to a porn star during the 2016 election to keep her from talking publicly about their past affair.
In the span of just a few minutes on Thursday, the foreman of a Manhattan jury read out the unanimous verdict to count, after count, after count that will thrust the country into unknown political territory.
"Guilty," said the middle-aged man, wearing a casual blue sweater. "Guilty. ... Guilty. ... Guilty," he said, repeating himself 34 times for each of the counts.
Some in the courtroom gasped as the judge had announced there was a verdict. He'd been planning to send the jury home at the end of the day, when the foreman sent a note heralding a decision.
At 5:03 p.m. local time, the jurors re-entered the room. Not a single one of them appeared to stare at Trump as they walked right past him toward the jury box. By 5:07 p.m., they'd convicted him.
Minutes later, they filed right past him again, none making any visible eye contact as they exited.
Trump sat impassive during the verdict, with the parties having just been warned by the judge not to react as the decision was announced.
Trump later gave his son Eric a prolonged, vigorous handshake as they left the courtroom minutes later, exiting this scene into that new, uncharted territory.
The first man ever to serve as U.S. president and be convicted of a crime has been ordered to come back to receive his sentence on July 11.
This is just days before the Republican convention where Trump is scheduled to be officially crowned the party's presidential nominee.
To be clear, Trump remains free to keep running for president; it's a race he might very well win, if current public opinion polls are accurate.
"The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people [on election day]," Trump said in a defiant statement. "I'm a very innocent man, and it's OK, I'm fighting for our country."
But the verdict will unleash an unpredictable succession of events that could wind on without resolution for months — potentially even for years.
