Donald Trump found ‘guilty’ in hush money case: A timeline of the historic conviction

A jury convicted former US President Donald Trump on Thursday of falsifying records to cover up a $130,000 payment made to buy a porn star’s silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said they had.

After deliberations over two days, the 12-member jury announced it had found Trump guilty on all 34 counts he faced.

The presiding judge, Justice Juan Merchan, has set sentencing for July 11, which would be days before the July 15 start of the Republican National Convention expected to formally nominate Trump for president.

“Donald Trump is guilty of repeatedly and fraudulently falsifying business records in a scheme to conceal damaging information from American voters during the 2016 presidential election. Over the course of the past several weeks, a jury of 12 every day New Yorkers was presented with overwhelming evidence – including invoices, checks, bank statements, audio recordings, phone logs, text messages, and direct testimony from 22 witnesses – that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump illegally falsified 34 New York business records.”

“Trump went to illegal lengths to lie repeatedly in order to protect himself and his campaign. In Manhattan, we follow the facts without fear or favor and have a solemn responsibility to ensure equal justice under the law regardless of the background, wealth or power of the accused. The integrity of our judicial system depends on upholding that principle,” said prosecuting District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Below is a timeline of events leading up to the Trump’s guilty verdict:

January 2018

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump arranged the payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to prevent her from discussing the alleged 2006 sexual liaison. Trump married his third wife, Melania Trump, in 2005.

Trump has repeatedly denied having sex with Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford.

February 2018

Michael Cohen, a former private lawyer and fixer for Trump, says he paid Daniels using his own money and was not directed by Trump‘s company or campaign to make the payment. He says Trump never reimbursed him for the payment.

Cohen would later contradict both statements under oath, stating that Trump did, in fact, direct him to make the payment and reimbursed him.

February 2018

The New Yorker magazine reports that Trump had an affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal from 2006 to 2007. The magazine said American Media Inc, publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, paid McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story shortly after Trump became the Republican nominee for president in 2016.

The National Enquirer never published the story.

April 2018

Trump, asked by reporters if he knew about the payment to Daniels, responds, “No.” Asked why Cohen made the payment, Trump says, “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen.”

May 2018

In an ethics disclosure, Trump acknowledges reimbursing Cohen for the $130,000 paid to Daniels.

July 2018

Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump‘s personal lawyers at the time, says Cohen recorded a conversation with Trump two months before the 2016 election in which the two discussed a potential payment to McDougal. Trump denies wrongdoing and calls Cohen’s tape “perhaps illegal.”

August 2018

Cohen pleads guilty to criminal charges in federal court in Manhattan, including campaign finance violations over the hush money payments to Daniels and McDougal. He testifies that Trump directed him to make the payments “for the principal purpose of influencing the election.”

In their indictment of Cohen, prosecutors say a candidate for federal office referred to as “Individual-1,” whom they later confirmed was Trump, arranged the payments. Federal prosecutors did not charge Trump with a crime.

December 2018

Trump calls the hush money payments a “simple private transaction.” In an interview with Reuters, he says the payment to Daniels “wasn’t a campaign contribution” and “there was no violation based on what we did.”

July 2021

Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney at the time, charges Trump‘s New York-based family real estate company, the Trump Organization, and its top financial executive with tax fraud. Trump himself is not charged, and the indictment contains no references to hush money payments.

December 2022

The Trump Organisation is found guilty of tax fraud after a trial in New York state court in Manhattan.

January 2023

Vance’s successor as Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, begins presenting evidence of Trump‘s alleged role in the 2016 hush money payments to a grand jury.

March 2023

Bragg’s office says Trump has been indicted. The specific charges remain under seal.

April 2023

The indictment is unsealed. It charges Trump with falsely claiming in records held by the Trump Organisation that his 2017 reimbursements to Cohen for the Daniels payment were legal expenses.

Prosecutors say the fabricated records were designed to conceal the payment, which they characterised as part of a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. Trump won the presidency that year, defeating Hillary Clinton, a Democrat.

Trump pleads not guilty to the charges and later tells supporters gathered outside his home in Florida that he was the victim of “election interference,” without providing evidence.

April 2024

Jury selection begins for Trump‘s trial.

April 2024

Lawyers for both sides finish choosing 12 jurors and six alternates to hear the case.

May 29 2024

Jurybegins deliberations in the case.

May 30 2024

Jury convicts Trump after two days of deliberation.

Read: Donald Trump indicted over attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 Presidential Vote