Trump, the former President of the United States has been found guilty of criminal offenses
The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, has been found guilty of 34 criminal offenses in a historic case that may shake the country's 2024 presidential election campaign.
Trump, 77 years old, is the first president of the United States ever to be impeached and later found guilty of criminal offenses.
A panel of members of a court in New York, on Thursday, found the former American ruler guilty of 34 charges of forging his business documents.
Trump's sentence is scheduled to be delivered on July 11, in the midst of his campaign to regain control of the United States, just a few days before the start of his Republican National Convention on July 15.
The former president, who has denied the charges against him, is set to face off against Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden in the November election.
Trump faces up to four years in prison for each charge, although court observers say there is a possibility that he will receive a reduced sentence.
Speaking outside the court, Trump said: "This was a stolen and humiliating case. The real verdict will be that of the people on November 5. The people know what happened here."
The former president of the USA was found guilty in the case of paying money to the silence of the actor of the immoral movies with whom he had an affair.
The court's jury panel of 12 people, 7 of whom were men, decided that Trump was guilty of all 34 separate charges against him in the "hush money" case.
Thus, for the first time in US history, a former president who appeared before a judge on the charges against him was found guilty.
In a short statement to the media after the jury's verdict, Trump said, "This was a disgraceful and fraudulent trial. People know what happened here. I am a very innocent man. I am defending our country and our constitution." he said.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg praised the New York court jury's verdict on former United States President Donald Trump and said, "This jury has fulfilled its duty."
The decision makes Trump the first US president to be convicted of a serious crime but not barred from running for president, as the trial judge must announce the sentence on July 11, and even in the case of a prison sentence, the sentence cannot be carried out until Trump appeals to the appeals court.
Meanwhile, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson condemned the sentence given to Trump in his message and described it as "a shame for American history."
Johnson wrote in a post on social network X:
"Today is a shameful day in American history. While the leader of the opposition party is being convicted on ridiculous charges, Democrats are happy about it. This was not a legal game, but a political game."
The US presidential election will be held on November 5, 2024./
