Trump Faces Felony Conviction Amid Election Battle: Report

Key Points:

• Donald Trump is convicted on 34 felony counts.
• Despite conviction, Trump can still run for office.
• The verdict may impact Trump’s upcoming election bid.

Trump faces felony conviction for falsifying documents. A jury convicted him of 34 counts related to a payment cover-up before the 2016 election. Sentencing is set for July 11.

A jury accused him of falsifying documents in an attempt to conceal a payment made to silence a porn star before the 2016 election. After two days of deliberation, the jury convicted Trump of all 34 felony counts.

Donald Trump Faces Felony Conviction After Jury Verdict

Justice Juan Merchan scheduled the sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican Party’s formal nomination of Trump for president in the upcoming Nov. 5 election.

The felony of falsifying business documents carries a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison. However, under the law, incarceration would not legally bar Trump from campaigning or taking office if elected.

Despite the guilty verdict, former President Donald Trump will remain free until sentencing. The 77-year-old ex-president has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer announced plans to appeal immediately.

Incarceration Might Not Hinder Trump’s Presidential Campaign

Trump described the trial as a sham and said he was innocent, adding that the real judgment would come from the people on Nov. 5.

The verdict places the United States in uncharted waters ahead of the Nov. 5 vote. Trump is trying to recapture the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden.

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The Impact of Guilty Verdict on Upcoming Election

The coming election appears to be a close battle between Trump and Biden, and a guilty verdict may affect Trump’s popularity among independent and Republican voters.

The jury accused Trump of falsifying business documents. Evidence included pornography star Stormy Daniels’s graphic testimony regarding the sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump said he did not have sex with Daniels. Furthermore, Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, testified that Trump approved a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels in the closing weeks of the 2016 election.