PHOENIX — Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Sentencing will begin July 11, according to the Associated Press, just four days before the Republican National Convention.
Kari Lake, a long-time Trump supporter and Republican candidate for senate in Arizona, released a statement following what Lake called "the jury's verdict in the New York sham prosecution."
“We just witnessed the most egregious example of election interference and an outright mockery of the rule of law in the 246-year history of our Republic," Lake said in the statement. "This entire process right down to the verdict itself has been nothing but a shameful political stunt."
House Majority PAC President Mike Smith also released a statement just minutes after the guilty verdict was announced.
“Over the last two years, House Republicans have pushed a radical agenda that seeks to defund law enforcement and endanger Americans," Smith said in a statement. "By standing with a now convicted criminal, House Republicans are doubling down on their extremism – and it will cost them the House in November.”
The Arizona Republican Party "condemned" the "unjust conviction" of Trump. In a statement, the party called the guilty verdict a "blatant miscarriage of justice."
“This conviction is a blatant assault on the principles of justice. President Trump’s trial was marred by bias and a predetermined agenda, stripping him of the fair trial to which every American is entitled to,” said Chair of the Arizona Republican Party Gina Swoboda. “We stand resolutely behind President Trump and the Arizona Republican Party will not waver in our fight to uphold justice and ensure that political opposition is not silenced through judicial overreach.”
Mark Lamb, Pinal County Sheriff and candidate for senate, said he has become "increasingly troubled" in the last two decades of his career in law enforcement by the "deterioration of the rule of law."
"This case is a perfect example of a politically motivated District Attorney who campaigned on prosecuting President Trump with the sole purpose of inevitably having an effect on the election," Lamb said in a statement. "All Americans should be concerned about this weaponization of our justice system."
The campaign for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement regarding the verdict, saying what happened in New York was a reminder that "no one is above the law."
"Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain," the statement said. "But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president."
Representative Raúl M. Grijalva expressed similar sentiments to the Biden-Harris campaign, saying the verdict underscores the "evergreen truth that no one, regardless of their position or power, is above the law."
"However, this recent ruling also highlights the fragility of our democracy as at the heart of the conviction was the purposeful deceit of the American people to aid Trump in his election to our nation’s highest office," Grijalva said in a statement. "This was not a witch hunt or rigged trial, but a stark reminder of the need to further safeguard our democratic institutions from deception, erosion, and abuse.”
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly echoed many others, saying "nobody is above the law."
"It’s a sad day for our nation to see, for the first time, a former president convicted on criminal charges," Kelly said. "I respect the independence of our justice system and the integrity of this trial.”
Congressman Andy Biggs released a statement condemning the "political witch hunt" against Trump.
"This politically motivated prosecution has been tainted from the start and spewed forth a stench of prosecutorial persecution until this managed verdict," Biggs said in a statement. "Prosecutor Bragg’s star witnesses are proven liars, the presiding judge is a Biden donor, and the jury pool overflowed with Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Trump also released a statement himself following the verdict announcement, calling the trial a "rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt."
"I'm a very innocent man, and it's okay, I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now, Trump said in a statement. "This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. And I think it's just a disgrace. And we'll keep fighting. We'll fight till the end, and we'll win because our country has gone to hell."
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