Former US President, Donald Trump has described his conviction as a disgrace even as his sentencing has been fixed for July 11.
A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush money case on Thursday in a seismic development barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.
The verdict makes Trump the first criminally convicted former US president but does not prevent him from campaigning for another term.
The conviction thrusts the United States into uncharted political territory but does not bar Trump from a White House run, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison time.
The verdict comes just weeks before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden on November 5.
The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days at the end of the extraordinary five-week trial held in a drab Manhattan courtroom.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved politically fatal.
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.