Trump’s guilty verdict: Debate rages on fallout

The guilty verdict against former US President Donald Trump was in the making as the trial unfolded. Trump’s team denied that he had sexual encounter with porn star Daniel Strom, and he did not pay hush money to her during the 2016 presidential campaign which he had won.

New York Attorney General Alvin Bragg, the New York Judge Juan Merchan seem to have had an easy way to conviction because Trump fought the case in an obdurate manner. The charge of ‘felony’ in US law is quite ambiguous, and any misdemeanour could be treated as felony, which attracts a maximum term of four years in prison.

Trump supporters in the right-wing American media feel that the felony charge could be trumped up because Trump was a former president and an important person in public life. National Review, a right-wing conservative magazine, in its editorial said, “Bragg relied on an embarrassingly compliant Judge Juan Merchan, and a Manhattan jury that took its cue from Merchan, to make up for myriad legal deficiencies in the case.”

New York Times, the citadel of liberal media in the US, Opinion writer Quinta Jurecic said, “There’s no way to know what led the jurors to reach the verdict they did. But throughout the trial, I was struck by the insistence of Trump’s lawyers on pursuing arguments or lines of questioning that seemed unhelpful to their case.”

The editorial of the newspaper too admitted the open-ended nature of the verdict. It said, “Americans may wonder about the significance of this moment. The Constitution does not prohibit those with a criminal conviction from being elected or serving as commander in chief even if they are behind bars. The nation’s founders left that decision in the hands of voters. Many experts have also expressed scepticism about the significance of this case and its legal underpinnings, which employed an unusual legal theory to seek a felony charge for what is more commonly a misdemeanour, and Mr. Trump will undoubtedly seek an appeal.” And Trump has declared that he will go in appeal against the jury verdict.

The Republicans in the House of Representatives led by Speaker Mike Johnson have rallied around Trump. Johnson said that the Supreme Court will overturn the verdict, and added, “President Trump is no longer just an individual. He is a symbol of fighting back against this corruption of our system.” Trump himself said in his reaction to the verdict, “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone.”

Many political observers think that this verdict will have no impact on the presidential election in November this year. They seem to believe that the political atmosphere in November will be vastly different compared to what is now. It is likely to be the case that even Trump voters may not want to vote for him because he is now a declared felon, until the appeals court overturns the verdict. 

The opinion polls show that the fight between incumbent President Joe Biden and Trump is narrow. The verdict could either tilt the balance in favour of Biden, though his popularity is quite low at the moment. Trump’s political prospects are not yet dimmed by the guilty verdict. The political battle between Biden and Trump remains to be fought out.

American democracy is still a work in progress after nearly 250 years of existence. The law is not definitive. Though there is little doubt that Trump had paid hush money to Stormy Daniels, there is doubt whether It is to be seen as a common misdemeanour or can it be elevated to the level of serious by bringing in the charge of felony.