Former President Donald Trump reacted to the guilty verdict handed down in his business records trial in Manhattan late Thursday afternoon, calling it a "rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt."
Trump maintained his innocence and vowed to fight for "our Constitution," vowing, "this is long from over."
Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts on the second day of jury deliberations. His sentencing is set for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin in Milwaukee.
"This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It's a rigged trial, a disgrace," Trump said of Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial.
"The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5th by the people. And they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here," Trump said. "We didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man, and it's OK; I'm fighting for our country, I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now.
"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. We don't have the same country anymore," he added. "We have a country that's in big trouble.
"But this was a rigged decision right from Day 1 with a conflicted judge who should have never been allowed to try this case. Never. And we will fight for our Constitution," Trump said.
"This is long from over."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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