Former President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he is “going to fight” and appeal his felony conviction Thursday in a case stemming from a “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The former president again referred to the New York trial as a “scam” and “a rigged trial.” He also remarked on illegal immigration and the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
“I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to save our country and to save our Constitution. I don’t mind,” he said.
Trump praised donors who poured money into his campaign coffers in the wake of the guilty verdict. His campaign said earlier Friday that it raised $34.8 million from small-dollar donors.
He insisted he’s “fighting for America,” and encouraged people to go to his campaign’s website.
A jury of 12 New Yorkers deliberated over two days to reach the verdict Thursday, finding that Trump illegally falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made in the days before the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her account of a sexual encounter with him. Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has denied having sex with Daniels.
The historic verdict makes Trump the first former president to be convicted of a crime. His sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to officially become the party’s nominee.
After the verdict was announced Thursday, Trump denounced it as a “disgrace” and declared himself “a very innocent man.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Trump faked the business records “to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election,” and he thanked the jury for their service.
“Many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken,” Bragg said at a news conference after the verdict.
