The two leading presidential candidates traded remarks on Friday, a day after former President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election.
Trump once again claimed his historic hush money trial was "rigged" after he was found guilty in a Manhattan court — but President Biden said the verdict proves "that no one is above the law."
"Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself," Biden told reporters hours after Trump spoke from Trump Tower, where he maintained his innocence and slammed Judge Juan Merchan, Biden and prosecutors, among others.
While both presidents have shared opposing responses to the guilty verdict, there's one thing they do agree on: that this November's presidential election will be monumentally important. Trump said the "real verdict" will come on Election Day, while Biden's camp warned, "There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box."
After deliberating over two days, a New York jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts related to a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The prosecution had alleged Daniels was paid to keep secret a 2006 tryst she had with Trump in order to influence the results of the 2016 election, which Trump ultimately won.
Trump vowed to appeal the verdict. His sentencing has been scheduled for July 11.
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Kate Murphy
Biden reaffirms Trump's guilty verdict: 'No one is above the law'
President Biden on Friday commented on former President Donald Trump's guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial, reaffirming that "no one is above the law." Biden acknowledged that his political rival can appeal the decision "just like everyone else has that opportunity."
Trump spoke to reporters earlier in the day from Trump Tower in New York, asserting, "This is a scam. There's a rigged trial. It shouldn't have been in that venue. We shouldn't have had that judge."
In his remarks on Friday, Biden excoriated the former president, saying "it's dangerous, it’s irresponsible" to claim that the trial was rigged.
Kate Murphy
Trump's legal team plans to appeal his guilty verdict. How could the timeline play out?
Hours after Donald Trump was found guilty Thursday on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, his legal team vowed to appeal.
Trump’s lead defense attorney Todd Blanche said on CNN Thursday evening that the appeal of the convictions would be filed “as soon as we can.” Blanche also told NBC’s Today that they “expect to win on appeal.”
Read more from Yahoo News here about what an appeal timeline could look like.
Katie Mather
House Judiciary chair calls for Manhattan DA, top prosecutor to testify
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is demanding that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and prosecutor Matthew Colangelo testify about Trump's trial.
Jordan's subcommittee on weaponization wrote in an X post on Friday that a hearing on "the unprecedented political prosecution of President Trump" is set for June 13.
#BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan will demand Alvin Bragg and Matthew Colangelo to appear for hearing on June 13, 2024 to testify about the unprecedented political prosecution of President Trump.
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) May 31, 2024
This is not the first time Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, has gone after Bragg or Colangelo. Jordan first requested testimony from Bragg back in March 2023, which Bragg resisted appearing for. Jordan also looked into Colangelo's hiring in April 2023 and tried again last month. Colangelo's résumé lists numerous cases that involve Trump.
Katie Mather
Trump verdict dominates headlines around the world
Trump's guilty verdict, announced by the Manhattan jury on Thursday evening, dominated front-page headlines worldwide. It is the first time a U.S. president has been convicted of criminal charges.
Katie Mather
Trump says he will appeal the verdict
Trump said he will be appealing the guilty verdict, which aligns with what his defense lawyer Todd Blanche has said.
After Trump's sentencing in July, his defense team will have 30 days to file a notice of appeal, and then they’ll have six months to file the appeal.
Yahoo News has more on the appeals process here.
Katie Mather
Trump slams Biden, judge, prosecutors and more
Trump has continued to verbally attack people including President Biden, Judge Juan Merchan, his former lawyer Michael Cohen and the prosecutors. He also criticized the case and its conclusion, insisting it was a "rigged" trial.
Katie Mather
Trump speaks to press at Trump Tower
Trump is currently speaking to reporters and supporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan after he was found guilty of 34 felony counts on Thursday.
So far, he has repeated the complaints he made about Judge Juan Merchan throughout his trial and lamented being under a gag order, which he incorrectly said was imposed by President Biden.
Donnavan Smoot
Trump campaign says it has raised over $34.8 million following verdict
The Trump campaign said it received $34.8 million since yesterday's guilty verdict.
In a statement, Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said, "President Trump is fighting to save our nation and November 5th is the day Americans will deliver the real verdict."
Donnavan Smoot
Here's a look at what happened yesterday
After deliberating over the course of two days, the 12-member jury in Manhattan found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Just before 4:30 p.m. ET, Judge Juan Merchan was set to send the jury home for the day if they didn't have a verdict.
The day started with portions of witness testimony being reread to the jury
The jury then spent the rest of the day deliberating
It looked like the jury was going to be sent home — but Merchan received a note saying jurors had reached a verdict
Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records
The judge scheduled Trump's sentencing for July 11 at 10 a.m. ET
Following the jury's decision being read, Trump called the trial "rigged" and "a disgrace," and said the "real verdict" will be decided on Election Day.
David Knowles
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche: 'As soon as we can appeal, we will'
Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche, who delivered the closing argument for the defense, said in a Thursday interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins that the former president would appeal the jury's guilty verdicts handed down in the hush money trial.
"As soon as we can appeal, we will," Blanche said, noting that the defense still had court issues to resolve with Judge Juan Merchan before they would file their appeal.
While Blanche complimented the jury as hard-working and attentive, he said it was "very hard for us to get a fair trial" because "every single person on that jury knew Donald Trump."
Asked whether it was a mistake not to have Trump take the witness stand in his own defense, Blanche noted that it was "ultimately" Trump's decision.
"I don't think there was a conviction because he did not take the stand," Blanche added.
As to the prospect that his client could be sentenced to prison by the judge in the case, Blanche continued to defend his client.
"Somebody like President Trump should never, never face a jail sentence," he said, adding that he planned to keep working on Trump's legal team in the other criminal cases in which the former president is charged.
David Knowles
Cohen: 'Donald needed to be held accountable'
In an interview Thursday on MSNBC, former Trump lawyer and key witness Michael Cohen said he was not surprised by the jury's guilty verdicts on the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and called the case "important" and "legitimate."
"Donald needed to be held accountable," Cohen said of his former boss.
Asked by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow about the withering attacks on his character by Trump's lawyers during the trial, Cohen acknowledged that he sometimes got "hot-tempered," but added that he was able to remain calm during his testimony.
"I was nervous because so much was riding on the result of this," Cohen said, while praising the prosecutors who called him to testify despite his past convictions on tax evasion and bank fraud charges.
Cohen had a less glowing appraisal of Trump lawyer Todd Blanche, who coined the acronym "GLOAT" — greatest liar of all time — to describe Cohen during his closing argument.
"I was going call him a 'SLOAT,'' Cohen said of Blanche, "the stupidest lawyer of all time."
In part, Cohen said, that was because Blanche seemed to base the bulk of Trump's defense on attacking him.
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Cohen speaks for first time about the historic Trump guilty verdict. pic.twitter.com/f49gqcD0YU
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 31, 2024
Yahoo News Staff
Republican leaders angry at Trump conviction
Republican leaders reacted with anger Thursday evening at the conviction of former President Donald Trump.
According to the Associated Press:
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a “shameful day in American history” and the charges were “purely political.” Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a “disgrace to the judicial system.” And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was “a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind.”
Read more about the Republican reaction.
Video: Trump guilty on all 34 counts in hush money trial — what happens now?
Yahoo News political reporter Andrew Romano weighs in on what's next following the guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump, who remains the leading Republican contender for the White House in 2024.
Kate Murphy
Trump to hold press conference Friday morning
Trump announced on Truth Social that he will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. ET tomorrow at Trump Tower in New York City.
Kate Murphy
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks after Trump's guilty verdict
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the 34 felony charges against Trump, delivered a statement following the guilty verdict decided by 12 Manhattan jurors and thanked them for their service.
"While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors," Bragg said.
When asked by reporters about a potential prison sentence for the former president, Bragg noted that sentencing is set for July 11 but declined to comment further, adding that the hush money case is still ongoing and active.
Kate Murphy
Read the jury's verdict sheet
Here is the complete verdict sheet filled out by the jury, indicating the verdicts on each of the 34 felony counts against Trump.
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Yahoo News Photo Staff
Photos: Scenes from outside the courthouse
After the guilty verdict was announced, people were seen gathering to celebrate. The New York Police Department restricted access to the area around the courthouse as helicopters circled above.
Photos show demonstrators cheering in lower Manhattan, waving signs that read "Trump Convicted" and simply: "Guilty."
Kate Murphy
Trump donation website back online after reports of it crashing
The Trump campaign's online portal to accept donations, run by Republican platform WinRed, reportedly crashed shortly after the guilty verdict came down.
“So many Americans were moved to donate to President Trump's campaign that the WinRed pages went down," the Trump campaign posted on X.
The website appears to be up and running again, with a picture of Trump's mug shot from his criminal case in Georgia with "Never Surrender" as the caption.
David Knowles
Trump Media shares sink following guilty verdict in hush money case
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) fell 9% in after-hours trading following the announcement that a jury had found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, CNN reported.
David Knowles
Michael Cohen: 'Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law'
Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney turned key trial witness in the case against him, responded to the jury's guilty verdict, per New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi:
“Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law. While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters. I want to thank my attorneys Danya Perry and Joshua Kolb for their invaluable guidance and support throughout this process," Cohen, who served jail time for tax evasion and bank fraud, said.
Cohen's testimony about paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence about an alleged extramarital affair with Trump was at the center of the prosecution's case.
