Kremlin Raises Alarm About Donald Trump Verdict

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov raised an alarm Friday about President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trial, saying the case was an attempt to “eliminate political rivals.”

The Context

On Thursday, a New York jury found Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which he denies. Trump has maintained his innocence and says the case is politically motivated.

What We Know

At a Friday news conference in Moscow, Peskov began by saying that Russia typically avoids commenting on court verdicts in other countries. He then said, “If we talk about Trump in general, it is obvious that there is actually the elimination of political rivals by all possible legal and illegal means.”

Reacting to the verdict Friday morning, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social: “I did nothing wrong, and frankly, there was nothing done wrong – NDA’s are standard, commonly used, and LEGAL. MAGA2024! WITCH HUNT! IF THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ME, IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!”

Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday night that Trump’s legal team would “vigorously fight” the verdict by filing motions before Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, in a couple of weeks., “If that is not successful, then as soon as we can appeal we will.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.