¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·

Donald Trump became the first former US president ever convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty on all charges in his hush money case, months before an election that could see him yet return to the White House.

The jury on Thursday found him guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels. He could in theory be sentenced to four years behind bars for each count but is more likely to receive probation.

The 77-year-old Republican, who was released without bail, is now a felon—a historic and startling first in a country where presidents are frequently described as the most powerful man in the world.

Trump, however, is not barred from continuing his battle to unseat President Joe Biden in November—even in the unlikely event he goes to prison.

His lawyer, Todd Blanche, said his team was eying an appeal ‘as soon as we can.’

And Trump himself voiced immediate defiance.

‘I’m a very innocent man,’ Trump told reporters, vowing that the ‘real verdict’  would come from voters on election day. He branded the trial ‘rigged’ and a ‘disgrace.’

Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying the trial showed ‘no one is above the law.’ It added that ‘the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.’

Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11 -- four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination.

The 12-member jury had deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before the foreman read out the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.

Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the ‘difficult and stressful task.’

Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often seen in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.

Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.

However, those trials—on far weightier alleged crimes—are unlikely to get underway before the presidential election.

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign against Hillary Clinton.

The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.

Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behavior.

Cohen, who was the key witness as a tainted former aide who had turned on his old boss, called the verdict ‘an important day for accountability and the rule of law.’

Trump has denied any sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels, but did not testify in his own defense. His lawyers argued that any payments made to the performer were entirely legal.

The trial has distracted Trump in his campaign to unseat Biden.

On Friday, Donald Trump lashed out in rambling, angry comments at his ‘sick’ opponents and ‘fascists’ after what he called a ‘very unfair’ trial that made him the first former US president to become a convicted felon.

The 77-year-old Republican, who is neck and neck with President Joe Biden in the 2024 White House race, confirmed he would appeal.

‘We’re going to be appealing this scam,’ he said.

Trump was speaking at what was billed as a press conference in the upscale lobby of his signature Trump Tower property in Manhattan.

But after taking to the podium, he launched into an extraordinary 35 minutes of insults, non-factual claims and non-sequiturs that reflected his seething anger. He then left without taking questions.

Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over his trial, is a ‘tyrant,’ Trump said, claiming that Merchan ‘literally crucified’ witnesses.

‘This man who looks like an angel, but he is really a devil,’ he said in the remarks, which were carried live by all the major US television networks.

In addition to complaining that the jury trial was unfair, Trump frequently veered off into attacks on Biden and illegal immigrants, who he said were speaking ‘languages unknown’ and include many terrorists, as well as ‘a lot of people’ released from prisons.

‘They’re coming in from all over the world into our country, and we have a president and a group of fascists that don’t want to do anything about it, because they could right now, today, he could stop it. But he’s not. They’re destroying our country,’ Trump said.

Trump’s campaign immediately made a fund-raising pitch after the verdict featuring a picture of the 77-year-old and the claim: ‘I am a political prisoner!’

According to the campaign, $34.8 million in donations flooded in, crashing the website.

‘From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed,’ the campaign said.

In addition to the New York case, Trump faces three far more serious criminal indictments over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and hoarding of top-secret documents at his home in Florida.

Those cases, however, are not likely to go to trial before the November election.