Trump vows to appeal felony conviction

The typical appeals process for a convicted defendant in New York state can take almost a year or more. Donald Trump’s lawyers could try to delay the process further after the former president was convicted on 34 felonies on Thursday.

Under New York law, any appeal of the verdict​ comes after sentencing. Trump’s sentence date is currently scheduled for July​ 11. As a defendant, Trump then has 30 days to file a notice of appeal. 

Once that notice is filed Trump’s legal team would typically have six months to complete procedural requirements like filing their appellate argument as well as filing other relevant documents like the trial transcripts.

Trump’s legal team will have one more opportunity to submit a brief in response to the prosecution’s filing soon after that.

A five-judge panel for the Appellate Division First Department will then hear oral arguments from both sides and issue a written decision which could take months. The panel is not subject to a deadline.

If the lower appeals court ultimately rejects Trump’s appeal and upholds the jury’s verdict, Trump can take it to the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. 

If the Court of Appeals decides to consider his case — which it is not required to do — another similar, lengthy briefing process would begin before a panel of judges who would eventually hear arguments and deliver a written decision likely months after the arguments.

Here are some of the key moments from the trial of “The People of the State of New York v. Donald Trump”:

• On the first day of jury selection, more than half of the first batch of prospective jurors said they couldn’t be fair and impartial.
• In a key victory for Trump, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape couldn't be played in court, saying it was prejudicial.

• "We have our jury": Trump’s legal team ran out of peremptory challenges to remove a couple of jurors who voiced negative opinions of the former president and his politics but said they could be fair and impartial.

• In opening statements, both sides laid out the outline of their argument to the jury, setting up the rest of the trial before prosecutors called former AMI CEO David Pecker as the first witness,

• Before the jury was called in, Merchan levied a $9,000 fine against the former president for violations of the judge’s gag order.
• Cohen’s former banker Gary Farro walked the jury through how Michael Cohen opened an account to send money to Stormy Daniels' attorney before attorney Keith Davidson, who represented both Karen McDougal and Daniels, took the stand.

• Hope Hicks, Trump’s former campaign press secretary and White House communications director, described the "crisis" created by the Access Hollywood tape and how that fueled Trump’s concern about keeping Daniels quiet in the days before the November 2016 election.

• Daniels walked the jury through the details of her 2006 encounter with Trump in his hotel room, where the adult film star said she had sex with Trump, who has denied the affair. Some of the details Daniels described were so explicit that the judge cut her off at several points.

• On the stand, Cohen tied Trump to the Daniels hush money payment and the reimbursement.
• On cross-examination, the defense tried to use Cohen's words to discredit him. There was a heated confrontation over a key phone call, in which the defense argued Cohen did not talk to Trump about the Daniel's payment and instead talked to Trump's bodyguard.
• Cohen admitted he stole $60,000 from the Trump Organization.

President Joe Biden joked that he didn’t know he was “that powerful” when asked about Donald Trump’s accusations that he was behind the former president’s conviction on dozens of state felony counts in New York. 

In an exchange with a reporter after an event with the Kansas City Chiefs at the White House on Friday, Biden said he had “no idea” if the conviction helped Trump politically. 

Asked if he was worried that charges could be brought against him after his term in office, Biden responded: “Not at all.” 

“I didn't do anything wrong,” Biden said. “The system still works.”
Asked about Trump alleging that Biden was “pulling the strings behind the scenes,” the president smiled and paused. 
“I didn't know I was that powerful,” he said. 

Despite not attending Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, were in Trump Tower during the former president’s post conviction remarks Friday, a source told CNN.

Trump’s wife and son, Melania and Barron Trump, who were also not present during the trial, were also there post conviction.

None of them attended the remarks, however a source said they were there to be supportive.

A handful of Senate Republicans are warning that they will slow-walk all Democratic legislation and nominees that come to the floor in response to Donald Trump's guilty verdict.

The move shows that Republicans aren’t just stopping at statements as they look to defend Trump from their posts on Capitol Hill. They are trying to show they are taking action too. 

“The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways," a letter posted on X and released by Sen. Mike Lee read Friday.

The letter is signed by several Republicans including Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, Tommy Tuberville, Marsha Blackburn, J.D. Vance and others. 

In the post with the letter, Lee also wrote "strongly worded statements are not enough."

Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware told CNN he was “stunned” by this letter, and called on his colleagues to respect the verdict of Trump’s hush money trial. 

“The system of justice worked as I think it's supposed to. Donald Trump and his attorneys had the opportunity to make their case, and the state had the opportunity to make its case," Carper said. 

Just hours after being convicted in his criminal hush money trial, Donald Trump dined with Republican mega-donors at a private residence in New York, two sources familiar with the event told CNN. 

Among those present was the chairman and CEO of Blackstone Steve Schwarzman, who recently came out in support of Trump after calling for a “new generation of leaders” during the Republican primary. Schwarzman’s recommitment to the former president was considered a huge win by Trump’s advisers. 

Real estate and sugar tycoon Jose “Pepe” Fanjul was also in attendance.

When CNN asked readers for their questions, a flood came in. Some of the more interesting and most asked questions are below. 

• What are felons barred from doing? It varies by state. In New York, where Trump was convicted, there are “collateral consequences” of being convicted of a felony. Importantly, felons in New York cannot hold many public offices, including elected positions. But Trump is no longer a New York resident. In Florida, felons lose civil rights, including the ability to hold public office and serve on a jury. While he can’t hold office in Florida or New York, there’s nothing in the Constitution to bar him from running for president.
• Can Trump still vote? Most likely. Trump is a Florida resident, and Florida defers to New York law on the question of felons voting. New York allows felons to vote as long as they are not incarcerated.
• Can Trump get his rights back? In New York, a felon can apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct to restore all rights after a certain period of time. The charges against Trump are Class E felonies, for which the period is three years. Florida requires felons to apply for clemency through a special board, but in the case of out-of-state convictions like Trump’s, it defers to the state where the person was convicted.
• If re-elected, could Trump pardon himself? Not in this case. Presidents have the power to issue pardons for federal offenses. Trump has been convicted of a felony in New York state court. That would require the pardon of New York’s governor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, who has praised his conviction.
• If elected as a felon, could Trump get a security clearance? It would be difficult for anyone with a felony conviction to get security clearance. But presidents do not need to obtain security clearance. The voters have essentially given them access to all the country’s secrets.
• Can Trump travel abroad? Trump’s conviction does not automatically prevent him from holding a US passport. But it could make it difficult to travel to some countries. Thirty-eight countries don’t allow felons to enter their borders, according to World Population Review, which says that some of those countries deny entry to felons “up front” while others do so only after such a conviction is “discovered.” That list includes Canada and Mexico, as well as Australia, China and South Africa.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is aiming to fundraise $10 million for former President Donald Trump as part of an upcoming multi-state fundraising push, according to a DeSantis adviser and two sources familiar with the matter. 

DeSantis will raise money for the super PAC Right for America, run by Trump ally Sergio Gor. Events are likely to begin in July and stretch through September, including states like Texas, California and Washington. Billionaire and former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter is one of the PAC’s largest donors.

Perlmutter, DeSantis and a group of DeSantis donors gathered last Thursday, where Trump joined for a phone call, and they discussed the fundraising efforts, according to one person present. It lasted about 10 minutes.  

Once 2024 rivals in a bitter primary, the source said Trump and DeSantis picked at each other about their golf game and a little bit about the campaign. The pair chatted about courses they were playing. Characterizing the conversation as jovial and moving forward, the source said it was “Trump being Trump.” 

“It sounded like it was 2019 again,” the source said. 

They also said Trump asked DeSantis to help with Right for America, and DeSantis said he would. 

Another source in the room on the call told CNN, “The conversation was very friendly and warm. They discussed golf and made small talk. The governor told the former president that he raised more money than any other politician in 2020, and he will do the same in 2024. Trump thanked DeSantis and told him it was great to have him back in the fold. The president was very appreciative and governor steadfast in his show of support.”

Donald Trump is vowing to appeal after a New York jury convicted him of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Thursday.

"We're going to be appealing this scam," Trump said at a news conference. "We're going to be appealing it on many different things."

The verdict brought the former president’s weekslong trial to a close but ushered in a new phase of the historic case.

• What Trump has said: In off-the-cuff remarks Friday morning, Trump said there were "bad people" responsible for the conviction and repeated his claim that Judge Juan Merchan was "highly conflicted" in the case and that the trial was unfair. Though he admitted the conviction "sounds bad," Trump maintained that he did nothing wrong. He also attacked his former attorney Michael Cohen, who was a key witness in the trial, without mentioning his name, instead calling him "a sleazebag."
• What Biden said: President Joe Biden said Trump’s conviction reaffirmed “the American principle that no one is above the law.” Biden added that "it's reckless, it's dangerous, it's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict." After his remarks from the White House, the president stopped and smiled in response to a question about Trump calling himself a political prisoner, but didn’t engage further. Meantime, his campaign called Trump "confused, desperate, and defeated," arguing Trump should not be president.
• Other reactions: Former Vice President Mike Pence said the conviction was an outrage and “undermines confidence” in the American justice system. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan scheduled a hearing next month with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and prosecutor Matthew Colangelo. Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, a vice presidential hopeful, said he stands by Trump and said he will do whatever he can to help the GOP frontrunner. Other Trump allies in Congress also spoke out, defending the former president.
• Fundraising push: Trump’s reelection campaign launched a wave of new digital advertisements looking to capitalize on a potential fundraising surge following the verdict. The campaign said it had raised $34.8 million in small-dollar donations since the conviction. In the hours following the verdict, Trump’s Facebook page went up with several variations of ads that blared the news and appealed to his supporters.
• What's next: Merchan has set Trump’s sentencing for 10 a.m. ET on July 11. While prison time is a possibility, the judge is not required to sentence Trump to jail. Merchan could sentence Trump to probation or a sentence of up to 4 years on each count in state prison, with a maximum of 20 years.