Donald Trump, porn models and 136 years in prison

On May 30, a jury in New York found Donald Trump guilty of falsifying financial records of the Trump Organization. Will Trump be sent to prison? Will he still be able to take part in the presidential election in the US?

According to investigators, in the summer of 2006, at a golf tournament, Donald Trump met Stephanie Clifford, a porn actress better known by her screen name Stormy Daniels. According to the woman, in the evening he called her to dinner in his room and then had sex with her. In 2011, Daniels gave an interview to In Touch magazine in which she spoke about her connection with Trump. The interview was not published then because the businessman's lawyer, Michael Cohen, threatened the journalists with a lawsuit.

In October 2016, during the height of the presidential campaign, The Washington Post published a video of Trump discussing his love affairs with Access Hollywood host Billy Bush. Daniels' representative contacted American Media Inc. (AMI) — the "eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign before the election.

Trump's lawyer offered the adult film star a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $130,000. Stormy Daniels signed the document 11 days before the 2016 presidential election.

According to Cohen, Trump also wanted to sweep another story under the carpet — his 2006 affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal. AMI paid her $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story. The company-owned National Enquirer tabloid did not publish anything, and the woman had contractual obligations not to tell her story to other publications.

After his election, Trump promised Cohen to repay all the money he paid Stormy Daniels, prosecutors alleged. The payments totalled $420,000 (NDA payment, interest and bonus), divided into 11 checks, which were disguised as payments for Cohen's legal services.

In early 2018, Daniels' story leaked to the press. The same year Cohen was sentenced to three years for giving false testimony to US Congress, tax evasion and violation of election campaign finance laws. The court found that the payments that Daniels received constituted an undeclared contribution to Donald Trump's election campaign.

In April 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg formally charged Trump with falsifying financial records of the Trump Organization to conceal payments to Cohen. Forgery of financial records is considered a misdemeanor in New York, but becomes a felony if committed either for fraudulent purposes or to cover up another crime. It goes about a violation of federal election law: by asking Cohen to pay Daniels for her silence, Trump, according to investigators, tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump refused to admit guilt and claimed that Daniels blackmailed him. The politician also denies his relationship with both women.

Court hearings in the high-profile case began on April 15 and lasted for about a month and a half. More than 20 witnesses appeared in court over this period of time, including Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. On May 29, Judge Merchan handed jurors instructions containing information on the laws applicable to the case and specific questions they were to answer as they deliberated their verdict. On May 30, all 12 members of the panel unanimously found Trump guilty of all 34 counts.

Trump listened silently and motionless to the jury's verdict, and then published a series of posts on his social network Truth Social.

"This was a disgrace," Trump told reporters. "This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It's a rigged trial, a disgrace."

Criminal conviction and Trump's election campaign

A jury in the United States can convict or acquit, but it is to judge to choose the punishment. Trump's sentencing is scheduled for July 11, four days before the Republican Party Convention, at which the politician is to be officially nominated as a US presidential candidate.

Each of the counts — one for each of the 11 invoices, 11 checks and 12 vouchers associated with payments to Cohen — carries up to four years in prison. Therefore, Donald Trump faces a maximum term of 136 years in prison.

However, it is unlikely that Trump will be sentenced to prison. This is the first time when the politician has been prosecuted for a non-violent crime. Typically, those convicted of similar crimes in New York who have no prior criminal record are sentenced to fines or conditional sentence. Even in case of a more severe sentence, the maximum that Trump faces is house arrest or a curfew, Reuters notes.

Trump may appeal the court's decision, but the first hearing is unlikely to take place before general election day on November 5. Formally, a criminal record and even imprisonment will not hinder Donald Trump in his struggle for that chair in the Oval Office. The American Constitution does not prohibit a convicted person from seeking the highest office in the state. In 1920, Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs campaigned from behind bars. To crown it all, if elected President of the United States, Trump may pardon himself.

Trump became the first US president in history to be found guilty of a criminal offense. The potential imprisonment of an ex-president would be unprecedented. According to American law, all former heads of state are protected by members of the US Secret Service. If Trump goes to prison, they will have to go there with him, The New York Times wrote.

If in prison, Trump will be kept separately from other prisoners, and armed agents will be staying with him around the clock, checking his food and personal belongings. Former penitentiary officials told the newspaper that there were several partially closed prisons in the State of New York. One of them could be used as prison home for the former President and his Secret Service agents.

Moscow reacts to Trump's conviction

The New York court's verdict in the case of former American President Donald Trump indicates the elimination of political competition in the United States, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, RIA Novosti reports.

"A for the verdict against Trump, then we can say that in the United States, political opponents are actually being eliminated by all possible legal and illegal means, this is obvious,” Peskov said.

What is happening in the United States "is an internal affair of the Americans.” Therefore, Russia will not comment on what is happening, especially in light of the fact that "the final decision of the court will be announced later," he added.