Donald Trump has been found guilty of falsifying business documents in an illegal attempt to influence the 2016 presidential elections in his favor.

Trump was found guilty on all 34 charges in a hush-money corruption scheme that was an attempt to ensure his election against current United States President, Joe Biden.

After deliberating his charges for less than a day, a jury found the former US President guilty. The case against Trump has dominated the news cycles for months since it began.

Being found guilty is a momentous and dangerous moment for Trump and his political career. Despite the criminal charges leveled against him, he has remained the only viable presidential candidate for the Republican Party. He is the presumptive nominee and is expected to challenge Joe Biden in the November presidential election.

However, this guilty verdict could see his high poll numbers drop significantly.

The jury, made up of 12 people from New York, found the controversial politician guilty of felony falsification of business records. Under US law, it is a crime for an individual to fill out false data in records to use them to commit a second crime.

Reacting to the guilty verdict afterward, Trump claimed that his trial was rigged. He also accused the presiding judge of being conflicted and corrupt. He said the entire process was a disgrace.

Soon after the guilty decision against his Republican opponent, President Joe Biden’s campaign team responded with an email.

In the email, Biden and his team said that the verdict against Trump showed that no one is above the law. The email went on to say that Donald Trump has always been under the mistaken belief that he would never face any consequences for blatantly breaking the law for his agendas.

The email went on to state that the verdict will not change the reality that Donald Trump, whether he gets convicted or not, will still be the Republican presidential nominee to face President Joe Biden. The email urged the citizens of the United States and supporters of Biden, to turn out in large numbers during the elections to ensure Trump does not find his way back into the White House.

How the Case Against Trump Unfolded in Court

In the case, the Manhattan district attorney took Trump to court accusing him of falsely recording the reimbursements to Michael Cohen, one of his former attorneys. The reimbursement was for the $130,000 that Cohen paid to Storm Daniels, a porn star. Cohen paid the money to Daniels for her not to reveal her affair with the former president.

Trump then recorded the reimbursement to Cohen as “legal expenses.”

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer who gave damning testimony

According to prosecutors, Trump made the false documents to conceal that he had broken the state election laws in New York. New York state laws say it is illegal for any person to get elected into office unlawfully.

Arguing its case, the state of New York said that Trump broke the law by paying hush money to Daniels. According to the prosecutors, the payment was an illegal campaign contribution, because its sole purpose was to help propel into the White House.

The money was also more than the $2,700 contribution cap on individual campaign contributions.

The prosecutors called 20 witnesses. In approximately one month, these witnesses gave evidence of how Trump and his friends David Pecker, a media executive, and his lawyer Michael Cohen worked together to conceal evidence of his affair with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, a model for Playboy magazine.

According to the witnesses, after the Access Hollywood tape of him bragging about sexual harassment came out, Trump became worried that tales of his affairs with the adult stars would come out and ruin his prospects of becoming president.

In the leaked 2016 tape, Trump forgot to turn off his hot mic and was recorded boasting that he was able to grab women “by the pussy.”

Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels have been pictured together in the past

So, when it became more and more likely that Trump’s history with Stormy Daniels would leak out before the presidential election in 2016, Cohen moved quickly to pay off the porn star for exclusive rights to her story. This was a move to prevent the story from ever getting published.

During his testimony, Cohen revealed that he used a home loan to raise the money needed to pay off Daniels. He then used a shell company to wire the funds to her lawyer. In his damaging testimony, Trump’s former attorney said that he went into all this trouble because he knew his client would later reimburse him the funds.

According to Cohen, Trump had told him to just take care of the situation. Trump also moaned that the whole thing was a disaster and that it would make women hate him.

Asked by the prosecution whether he would have paid off Stormy Daniels without authorization from his boss, Cohen replied no, saying that Trump would have to put his signature on everything his lawyers handled.

Daniels also recounted her encounters with Trump. She recalled a time when Trump said she reminded him of his beautiful daughter. He remarked just like Daniels, people underestimate her because she is beautiful and blonde.