Trump verdict live updates: Reactions pour in day after jurors find Trump guilty (2024)

Senate, House Republican campaign committees say they each had their best fundraising day of the cycle

An email went out to Biden campaign staff yesterday asking them not to post personal opinions or their own takes about the verdict on social media, instead suggesting they amplify the official campaign and White House statements, two sources familiar told NBC News.

In a statement yesterday after the verdict, Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler said: “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.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."

A group that monitors right-wing social media, Advance Democracy, says it has identified online calls to dox jurors, Judge Merchan and others.

On the far-right website 8kun, an anonymous user posted the purported personal contact information and addresses for journalists, the presiding judge and some purported jurors. Advance Democracy said it has not determined whether the posted information is accurate.

Advance Democracy said it also identified “a high volume of social media posts containing violent rhetoric targeting Justice Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The group said it has not identified, however, any posts that could be perceived as concrete plans to engage in violence."

The group also said it detected general calls to organize in reaction to the verdict, but not specific details or plans for in-person activity. Some of the calls to organize include violent rhetoric (for example, calls “to go to Washington and hang everyone”).

In the lead-up to Trump's guilty verdict, false reports that spread on right-wing media about the jury instructions led to threats against Judge Merchan.

Arizona GOP Senate candidateKariLake reacted to Trump’s conviction on Newsmax last night and announced that her husband was subpoenaed while the verdict was coming down.

“As this was all coming down, a process server showed up at my door and served a subpoena on my husband. They’re, they’re lawfaring me to death,” she said.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump downplayed the evidence presented at the hush money trial, saying he was “not involved” in writing “legal expense” on the business records and expressing incredulity that such a thing would be considered a crime.

“My bookkeeper called a “Legal Expense,” on the “tiny” description line of the Ledger, a “Legal Expense,” openly paid to my lawyer, at that time a fully accredited one. I was not involved in that designation, but what else would you have called it? It was, in fact, a LEGAL EXPENSE. That is the so-called “CRIME,” Trump wrote.

Referring to Michael Cohen's efforts to secure the non-disclosure agreement with p*rn actor Stormy Daniels, Trump added, “My lawyer, at the time, did virtually everything on the NDA (NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT), and I assumed that what he did was correct.”

Trump reiterated that he did “nothing wrong” and said NDAs are “standard, commonly used, and LEGAL.”

“IF THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ME, IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!” he wrote.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney in the hush money case, said this morning that he's not surprised about yesterday's historic verdict, but is confident the former president's conviction will be overturned on appeal.

Appearing on NBC’s "TODAY" show, a little over 12 hours since his client was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Blanche said: "This was a verdict we were expecting. We’re going to appeal and we’re going to win on appeal," he said.

Blanche repeated the Trump team’s long-held belief that it was impossible to get a fair trial in Manhattan, where Trump has low approval ratings.

Asked whether he was surprised that not one juror questioned the unanimous verdicts, Blanche complained that the outcome may have been different if the defense team was able to submit certain evidence, such as the tax records of witnesses.

NBC News’ Shaq Brewster spoke with voters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who explained why they would still vote for Trump despite the New York conviction.

A Trump campaign newsletter, the Palm Beach Playbook, urged supporters to get involved in the campaign after the verdict.

The campaign also reiterated criticisms of the trial, calling it a "sham" and arguing that the verdict "is the result of the Left shredding the Constitution in their savage pursuit of raw political power."

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said in an interview on CNN last night that "as soon as we can appeal, we will."

Blanche said in multiple news interviews yesterday that he believed Trump did not get a fair trial, pointing to the trial's venue, timing and judge.

Trump said yesterday that there would be a news conference at 11 a.m. today in the Trump Tower atrium.

He will deliver remarks, the campaign said.

Trump spoke outside the courtroom following his guilty verdict, but he has yet to answer questions from reporters.

The Biden campaign reacted to the verdict yesterday by saying Trump finally got his comeuppance.

Trump "has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain," campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement. "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 campaign also sent a fundraising text and email to supporters about the verdict.