Guilty on all counts

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May 30, 2024 View in browser   By Calder McHugh and Charlie Mahtesian Former President Donald Trump departs the courtroom after being found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court today. | Pool photo by Justin Lane CONVICTED — It’s a historic day: former President Donald Trump has just been found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, making him the first president branded as a convicted felon. The unanimous verdict from a jury of 12 Manhattanites puts an end to a six-week trial in which prosecutors accused Trump of orchestrating an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election. His sentencing is set for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin. Trump lashed out immediately after leaving the courtroom, repeatedly calling the verdict “a disgrace.” “The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people,” Trump said, referring to Election Day. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released earlier today shed some light on how the verdict could affect the November election. Two-thirds (67%) of registered voters nationally said a guilty verdict would make no difference to their vote, while 17 percent reported they would be less likely to vote for Trump. Fifteen percent said they would be more likely to vote for him. Within minutes of the decision, Trump’s campaign blasted out a fundraising email describing the former president as a “political prisoner,” signaling how the presumptive GOP nominee intends to frame the outcome of the trial. “Friend: Is this the end of America?,” the email said. “I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial: I DID NOTHING WRONG! They’ve raided my home, arrested me, took my mugshot, AND NOW THEY’VE JUST CONVICTED ME!” Candidates and officeholders from across the political spectrum were prepared for a verdict, and immediately weighed in with statements. “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” the Biden campaign said in a statement. “Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. 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. The conviction doesn’t prevent Trump from running for — or serving — as president. He must only meet the requirements laid out in the U.S. Constitution, which don’t speak to the question of criminal convictions. Read more from POLITICO about the verdict and its legal and political aftermath: Donald Trump found guilty in New York hush money trial: As the jury foreperson read the verdict, Trump looked toward the jury box. After the foreperson finished reading the verdict, the former president looked straight ahead, appearing somewhat red in the face. Then, as the jurors individually confirmed that they agreed with the verdict, Trump stared at them. It now falls to the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, to determine Trump’s sentence. Yes, Donald Trump can still be president as a convicted felon: For the first time in history, a presumptive presidential nominee from one of the two major U.S. political parties is a convicted felon. But does Donald Trump’s conviction in the Manhattan hush money case prevent him from running for — and potentially serving — as president? Nope. Donald Trump’s long road of legal troubles may end here: Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in New York gave way to a stark reality: The former president’s pre-election odyssey through the criminal justice system may have come to an end. Though there are still three criminal cases pending in Washington, D.C., Florida and Georgia, Trump is poised to face voters before he comes close to any trial on the graver charges prosecutors leveled in those cases. And if he wins in November, he may never face those other cases at all. So Trump’s guilty. What happens next?: Donald Trump’s hush money trial might be over, but his time dealing with the New York criminal justice system is far from finished. Trump’s team is sure to appeal the guilty verdict, a process that could stretch on for months or even years. And in the coming weeks, Justice Juan Merchan will deliver Trump’s sentence. At that hearing, Trump could be given the opportunity to vent about the case for the first time in open court. He’ll also have to complete other typical procedural tasks New York state defendants face after conviction. There’s a real possibility Trump can’t vote in November: Donald Trump might not be able to vote for himself come November. As a convicted felon in New York and now resident in Florida, Trump’s ability to cast a ballot there depends on the sentence imposed by the judge in his hush money case — and when or if he completes it. Why Trump’s team thinks he can survive any verdict: Donald Trump’s pollsters have been tracking the impact of his indictments throughout his first trial and, moving to get ahead of events, are arguing that regardless of the verdict in the New York hush-money case, they can spin it in his favor. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s authors at cmchugh@politico.com and cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh and @PoliticoCharlie.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what's next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like technology, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world's best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other. Our technology reporting team—including Brendan Bordelon, Josh Sisco and John Hendel—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of technology policy and its impact across industries. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.   What'd I Miss? — Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with US weapons: The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided weapons, two U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move said today, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city. “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” a U.S. official said, adding that the policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.” Ukraine asked the U.S. to make this policy change only after Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv began this month, the official added. — Supreme Court chief justice declines meeting with Dems amid Alito ethics flap: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has declined a meeting request from two senior Senate Democrats amid a swirl of ethics questions surrounding the conduct of Justice Samuel Alito and, predating that flap, Justice Clarence Thomas. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Roberts said such a meeting would be “inadvisable” given the proposed format: “a meeting with leaders of only one party who have expressed an interest in matters currently pending before the Court.” — Supreme Court revives NRA’s lawsuit alleging that New York violated its First Amendment rights: The National Rifle Association scored a major victory at the Supreme Court today, as the justices unanimously ruled that appeals judges were too quick to dismiss the NRA’s claims that New York officials violated its First Amendment rights by targeting its insurance business. The decision reinstated a lawsuit the NRA filed in 2018 against New York state’s top financial services regulator, Maria Vullo, after she announced a plan to pressure banks and insurance companies to stop doing business with the gun-rights organization. Nightly Road to 2024 BIG BET — Republican mega-donor and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson plans to help bankroll a massive super PAC for Donald Trump as he seeks to close his financial gap with President Joe Biden. Adelson is planning to play a major role in funding Preserve America, a pro-Trump super PAC founded during the former president’s 2020 reelection campaign. The group is now being reconstituted for the purpose of helping Trump’s 2024 bid, according to a person with direct knowledge of her plans who was granted anonymity to speak freely. How much Adelson will donate to the super PAC is not clear, though the person familiar with her plans said the group was expecting to spend more than it did four years ago when Adelson and her late husband, Sheldon, donated $90 million to Preserve America. AROUND THE WORLD Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg returns from a break during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 31. | Francis Chung/POLITICO PROPAGANDA SPREADING — Hundreds of pro-Russian ads are still spreading on Meta’s platform Facebook barely a week before the European election and despite an ongoing EU investigation, according to new research shared exclusively with POLITICO. A well-known Russian influence campaign — flagged to Meta in April after it reached about 38 million French and German users with nearly 4,000 propaganda ads over several months — is still proliferating and has since expanded to Italy and Poland. About 275 covert sponsored posts with anti-Ukraine and anti-EU narratives reached more than 3 million Facebook users in France, Germany, Italy and Poland in May, said researchers from not-for-profit groups AI Forensics and CheckFirst. The material impact of the paid-for messages — many of which were hard to read, with words split up — is unclear. Still, the findings come as hundreds of millions of Europeans prepare to vote for a new European Parliament on June 6-9, an election closely watched by disinformation experts and cybersecurity officials who fear Russian interference. Many are also looking to see how major social media platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram will limit homegrown falsehoods, especially with the EU’s content-moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), in force.   YOUR DAILY DOWNLOAD ON ALL THINGS TECH: Today marks the 200th episode of the POLITICO Tech podcast! That's 200 incisive conversations with global policymakers, tech executives, social activists and other influential voices reshaping our world, one algorithm at a time. Join host Steven Overly for a daily dive into the major political and policy battles around artificial intelligence, election disinformation, competition with China, TikTok, microchips and much more. SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN TODAY via Apple, Spotify, Simplecast or your preferred podcast player.   Nightly Number 1.3 percent The annual rate at which the U.S. economy grew between January and March, a sluggish pace and the weakest quarterly rate since the spring of 2022. The Commerce Department had previously estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — expanded at a 1.6 percent rate last quarter. RADAR SWEEP SCAN ME — More than six billion barcodes are scanned around the world every day. The technology is so ingrained in our lives that we don’t even think about it. But when the grocery industry attempted to introduce barcodes to American consumers in the 1970s, it was met with challenges. They mostly centered around worries that consumers wouldn’t be able to comparison shop — with barcodes on items, the thinking went, shoppers wouldn’t know their prices immediately. And with early barcodes and scanners expensive to install, grocery stores didn’t want to also take the time-consuming step of adding prices back onto items. The compromise? Putting the prices on shelves, like we see in many chain grocery stores today. Jordan Frith writes about the cultural impact of the barcode for Slate. Parting Image On this date in 1978: An explosion at the Texas City Refinery Inc. in Texas rocked the plant, leaving five people dead, 10 others injured and blowing up two 55,000 gallon gasoline tanks. | AP Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   Follow us

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