Extract from ABC News
By Brad Ryan in Washington DC
Former US president Donald Trump has confirmed he will appeal after a New York jury found him guilty in his hush money criminal trial.
Trump took no questions at his 33-minute post-verdict press conference, where he again protested his innocence, railed against the "rigged" trial, attacked the judge as "conflicted", and labelled the US a "fascist state".
"We're going to be appealing it on many different things," Trump said on Friday morning, local time.
"He [the judge] wouldn't allow us to have witnesses. He wouldn't allow us to talk, he wouldn't allow us to do anything. The judge was a tyrant."
Trump was found guilty on all 34 charges by a Manhattan jury on Thursday at the conclusion of a six-week trial.
He is due to be sentenced on July 11, just days before he's scheduled to formally become the Republicans' presidential candidate at the party's national convention in Milwaukee.
Trump's lawyers cannot appeal until after sentencing.
President Joe Biden said Trump was entitled to appeal, but it was dangerous and reckless to suggest the trial was rigged "just because they don't like the verdict".
"Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it literally is the cornerstone of America," the president said.
"Our justice system, the justice system, should be respected. We should never allow anyone to tear it down."
Trump has repeatedly accused Mr Biden of being behind the case against him, without evidence. Though Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is an elected Democrat, his office is independent of the White House.
The offences each carry a maximum of four years' jail, but New York sentencing standards mean prison is unlikely. Probation or home incarceration are among the other sentencing options.
Even if he is jailed, he can still run for president, though he would not be able to vote from prison.
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted immediately after the verdict, more than a third of Republicans said they were more likely to support Trump in light of the jury's decision.
Thirty-five per cent of registered Republicans said they were more likely to support Trump, compared to 10 per cent who said they were less likely. Fifty-six per cent said the case would have no effect on their vote.
Among independent registered voters, 25 per cent said they were less likely to vote for Trump; 18 per cent said they were more likely.
The poll of 2,556 American adults found 41 per cent of voters would support Mr Biden if the election were held today, and 39 per cent would vote for Trump. Biden's narrow lead was within the poll's margin of error.
Attack and defence
In his lengthy press conference, Trump also took aim at his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, despite an order that prohibits him commenting publicly about trial witnesses.
Cohen, now one of Trump's most active critics, gave key evidence in the trial, though jurors were told not to solely rely on it.
"I'm not allowed to use his name because of the gag order," Trump said on Friday. "But you know, he's a sleazebag. Everybody knows that."
Trump has already been fined $10,000 for 10 separate gag order breaches, and was threatened with jail if the transgressions continued.
Trump has not criticised the jurors, who reached a unanimous verdict after less than two days of deliberations, but he has suggested they were given "biased" instructions.
He maintains the $US130,000 ($195,000) payment to porn star Stormy Daniels – which was central to the case – was not out of the ordinary.
"It's not hush money," he told reporters at Trump Tower in New York. "It's a non-disclosure agreement. Totally legal, totally common."
Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, said the jury delivered "the verdict we were expecting", but he was confident it would be overturned on appeal.
"The goal is to appeal quickly, and hopefully be vindicated quickly," he told America's Today show.
Trump and Mr Biden have been neck-and-neck in polls for months. But some polls place the incumbent behind Trump in crucial swing states. The US election is on November 5.
Trump's conviction appears to have triggered an outpouring of support from donors, and his campaign said it had benefited from a "record shattering small dollar fundraising haul" of $US34.8 million.
"From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support," a campaign statement said.
Trump has three other criminal trials pending – two relating to alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election result, and one over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. However, none of those cases appear likely to reach the trial stage before the election.
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