Former US President Donald Trump has been convicted of falsifying records to cover a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 United States presidential election.
This decision makes Trump the first president in the history of the United States to be convicted of criminal charges.
Here is what we know so far:
What was Trump found guilty of?
After seven weeks of trial, shortly after 5pm local time (21:00 GMT) on Thursday, a New York City jury unanimously found him guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Daniels claimed that ahead of the 2016 election that Trump eventually won, he paid her $130,000 to remain silent on a sexual encounter the two had a decade earlier. Trump denies the affair.
Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made the payment, and testified that he acted under Trump’s direct orders. Cohen insists Trump paid him back, using money collected for his election campaign.
The 34 charges relate to the different ways in which Trump categorised this hush money as legal fees in his records, which, according to the court included:
- Eleven invoices for legal services
- Eleven cheques paid for legal services
- Twelve ledger entries for legal expenses
Will Trump go to prison?
It is unlikely that Trump will go to jail, although it is technically possible.
While paying hush money in itself is not illegal, each count of falsification carries a sentence ranging from one year to a maximum of four years. So, in theory, Trump could face up to a total of 136 years in prison.
But in practice, it is uncommon for people who are only convicted of falsification of business records and have no other criminal history to be sentenced to prison in New York. Instead, punishments such as probation, fines or community service are more common.
Even those who are sentenced to jail over falsification convictions typically serve a year or less in prison, and that too, usually, if they are also convicted of other crimes such as fraud or grand larceny – which is not the case with Trump.
When will sentencing take place?
At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, sentencing was set for 10am (14:00 GMT) on July 11, at the request of defence lawyer Todd Blanche.
Trump will return to court for his sentencing hearing.
It falls four days before Trump is expected to be formally nominated as the party’s presidential nominee at the Republican Party’s national convention.