Trump condemned. Cartoon of 02/06/2024 in CTXT
Donald Trump has the honour of being the first former president to be convicted in a criminal trial, including being the first to stand trial.
Known as prisoner PO1135809, he was convicted of 34 felony counts(Class E) of falsifying business records (one for each document he falsified or tampered with) in a landmark trial in New York for concealing a payment in exchange for the silence of former porn actress Stephanie Cliffords, better known as "Stormy Daniels", with whom he had an affair, and thus buying her silence and so that the encounter would not harm his 2016 election campaign.
While this still depends on sentencing, for all practical purposes, Trump will not be able to vote in Florida, where he is registered, until he serves his sentence. Under federal law, he also cannot own a firearm. He can, however, run for president and even hold office, because the Constitution does not provide for disqualification from running or serving as president for people with convictions or who are incarcerated.
The Constitution provides for very basic requirements to be eligible for election as president: you must be at least 35 years old, a natural born citizen, and have resided in the United States for at least 14 years.
Trump would not be the first US presidential candidate to face criminal charges. Eugene Debs, leader of the Socialist Party, ran from prison in 1920 after being convicted of violating the Espionage Act after criticising US involvement in the First World War. He won just 3.4% of the vote. Another candidate was Lyndon LaRouche, a conspiracy theorist convicted of fraud in 1988 and a 1992 candidate from prison. He received less than 0.1% of the vote in his third of nine nominations. In 2012, Keith Judd received 41% of the vote in the West Virginia primary against Barack Obama while he was sentenced to seventeen years in prison for extortion.(Source).
Despite the seriousness of the offences and the prison sentences they carry, it is likely that, in any case, he will not even go to prison.
Trump's sentencing will take place in Manhattan Criminal Court on 11 July, three days before the start of the Republican National Convention from which he is expected to emerge as the party's nominee for the presidential election.
The monologue he gave after his conviction was more of the same, a bunch of lies. One after another.
Remember that this spawn was the one who said this in January 2016, referring to the polls:
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose a single vote, OK? It's unbelievable.
