After being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a hush money payment scheme, former President Donald Trump will be sentenced on July 11, just four days before the start of the Republican National Committee convention.
The sentencing will likely cast a pall over the RNC convention, where Trump will officially become the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, if he is sentenced to prison.
Both the guilty verdict and the sentencing arrangement are an unprecedented moment in American politics. Never before has a former president been convicted of criminal charges with the possibility of jail time.
It is unclear how the RNC convention would proceed if Trump were directed to head to jail. But Trump is already gearing up to appeal the conviction in the meantime.
The former president has also begun to fundraise off of the conviction. “BREAKING NEWS: I’M A POLITICAL PRISONER!” stated a fundraising email.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump last year for directing illegal payments to silence porn star Stormy Daniels from detailing an alleged affair during his 2016 presidential campaign.
On Thursday, a 12-member jury convicted Trump after more than 11 hours of deliberation.