There are now a lot of questions about how former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his New York hush money case could impact the upcoming presidential election.
The 12-person jury found Trump guilty Thursday on all 34 felony counts in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
His sentencing is four days before the Republican National Convention.
By all accounts, Trump is likely be the GOP nominee. Republicans in Washington were quick to react after the verdict, releasing statements defending the former president and condemning the jury’s decision.
The U.S. Constitution lays it out clear: a candidate must be a “natural born citizen,” at least 35 years old and have lived in America for 14 years.
It’s also unlikely he’ll be imprisoned based on age, and lack of a criminal record. In fact, NBC News did an analysis of thousands of similar cases and found that very few people charged with the same crime receive jail time.
NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne says Trump will appeal the verdict.
“They will, in fact, perfect their appeal and then the case with take months and months and perhaps even years before it ever is resolved, so the significance is what the jury did today,” said Coyne.
A statement from the Biden-Harris administration reads in part, “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law…but today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”
New polling out just before the verdict shows roughly 2/3 of Americans said a conviction would make no difference in their vote.
Trump will speak Friday morning on the guilty verdict.
