Donald Trump has hit out after being convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his historic criminal trial in New York.
Porn star Stormy Daniels says she had sex with Donald Trump in 2006 (something he denies), and she was paid to stay quiet about it ahead of the 2016 election, which Trump won.
The trial centred on a reimbursement Trump made to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen said he was told by Trump to pay Daniels $130,000 (£104,000) to buy her silence.
Hush-money payments are not illegal. But prosecutors said Trump improperly recorded the reimbursement to Cohen as legal expenses. Trump was further accused of violating state election law.
He was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year and is scheduled to be crowned at the party's convention just days after his 11 July sentencing.
Polls have indicated that he's in a statistical dead heat with President Joe Biden and maintains a slight edge in many key swing states that will decide the election.
But those surveys also provided evidence that this conviction might change all of that.
In exit polls conducted during the Republican primaries this winter, double-digit numbers of voters said that they would not vote for the former president if he were convicted of a felony.
Now those voters can make their judgement based on a real conviction. Even a slight drop in Trump’s support might be enough to matter in the kind of razor-thin race this presidential contest could become.
As we mentioned earlier, Trump's lawyers say they'll appeal all the guilty verdicts against the one-time president.
"Every aspect of this case is ripe for appeal," his lawyer Will Scharf said late last night on Fox News.
Because of these probable imminent appeals, it's been suggested that Trump's sentencing - which is scheduled for 11 July - could be delayed. Some legal experts have said it could take place after the 5 November presidential election.
"There's a very good chance that the case is going to be overturned on appeal but the question is: will that happen before the election? The likelihood of the appeal being heard before the election is not very good," lawyer Annemarie McEvoy told the BBC last night.
"So he will probably be a convicted felon when he runs for office in November."
THIS AND MORE UPDATES AT: Trump trial live: Former president rages at verdict in historic case - BBC News
