Emerging from the courtroom, moments after jurors in his Manhattan criminal trial found him guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records Thursday, Donald Trump paused amidst a safety circle of his lawyers and son, Eric Trump, before facing reporters to deliver a statement as the first U.S. president to ever be charged with a crime after leaving office.
"This was a disgrace," Trump said. "This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who's corrupt. It's a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5% or 6% in this district, in this area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is gonna be Nov. 5, by the people. And they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here . . . we didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man. It's okay. I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration, in order to wound or hurt a political opponent. And I think it's just a disgrace. And we'll keep fighting. We'll fight 'til the end, and we'll win."
The Trump campaign must have seen this verdict coming, as they'd seemingly prepared a fundraising pitch around it, which they dropped on social media minutes after the verdict was handed down.
Trump's sentencing will take place on July 11, days before the Republican National Convention.
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