Outrage. Anger. Quick condemnation.
That was the reaction from political and elected leaders across Suffolk County concerning the guilty verdict that was delivered in the President Donald J. Trump trial after only nine hours of deliberations.
President Trump is now the first Commander in Chief in American history to be convicted of a felony. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg tried President Trump on 34 charges, accusing the former President of engaging in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying off an adult actress who claimed to engage in sex with the 45th President.
“The decision is a travesty of justice. The entire trial was engineered by a liberal, anti-Trump district attorney, a Democrat justice, and a Manhattan jury. The verdict comes as no surprise, but it is a shameful mark on our nation’s judicial history. This decision will have no bearing on the upcoming election. President Trump’s supporters have known since the beginning that this was nothing but a partisan show trial. Onward to November,” said New York State Conservative Chairman Gerard “Gerry” Kassar.
The local GOP was quick to respond as well, sending out a press release titled “Suffolk County Republican Committee Stands with Donald J. Trump.”
“The liberal left has made it clear that they are desperate to manipulate this election by exploiting and weaponizing the criminal justice system to help their failed President Joe Biden. This is a disgusting distortion of justice led by a partisan district attorney who campaigned on sending Donald Trump to jail and a compromised judge who prevented evidence from being placed into evidence and issued slanted jury instructions. President Trump will no doubt rise high above this travesty through the appellate process and the Democrats are going to immediately see that this courtroom charade will galvanize support at the polls this year,” said Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman Jesse Garcia.
New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who previously donated to Joseph Biden’s presidential campaign, scheduled sentencing for July 1th, 2024. This is four days before the start of the Republican National Convention taking place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from July 15th to July 18th.
After the verdict, President Trump pointed to the fact that Judge Merchan never should have presided over the trial because of that donation, and the fact that his daughter Loren Merchan is a national consultant for Democratic officials across the country, including the top prosecutor in his impeachment trial, Congressman Adam Schiff.
One of the top prosecutors on Bragg’s team is also former Biden Justice Department attorney Matthew Colangelo.
“This abuse of the legal system, engineered by Department of Justice lawyers sent by Joe Biden, is a disgrace,” said Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano. “Using government resources to go after a political opponent is election interference at its worst. This whole affair is a national embarrassment and the voters see right through it. The people should decide who they want their president to be, not a bunch of biased prosecutors.”
In most cases the alleged crime President Trump is accused of, falsifying business records, would be considered a misdemeanor in New York. District Attorney Bragg turned it into a felony by making the claim, which President Trump denied, that the former President doctored business records with the intent to influence the 2016 election.
Critics of the verdict also argue that the statute of limitations would have long run out since the legal clock on charges started ticking in 2016. The statute of limitations is five years for these types of alleged misdeeds.
But District Attorney Bragg argued that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo put a pause on statutes of limitations during the COVID pandemic.
“The weaponization of the criminal justice system by a politician should scare the daylights out of everyone,” said Desiree Glock of the group, “Truth Matters."
“If any members of our organization speak out against Joe Biden or any of the Democrats, can we expect to be raided by armed FBI agents? If they can do this to a former president, they can do it to any one of us. This is Fascism in its most ugly form,” added Glock.
The felonies President Trump was convicted of, carry a prison sentence of four years on each count. It would be rare for a person found guilty of a similar crime, with no criminal background whatsoever, to be sentenced to time behind bars. Judge Merchan could also sentence President Trump to probation or impose a fine.