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NEW YORK: Donald Trump said on Friday he would appeal the guilty verdict that made him the first US president convicted of a crime, though he will have to wait until after his sentencing on July 11 before taking that step.
In rambling remarks at the Trump Tower lobby in Manhattan, he repeated complaints that the trial was a “rigged” attempt to hobble his comeback White House bid.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump, 77, said in an unscripted 33-minute speech. Applauded by supporters, he took no questions from reporters.
“We’re going to be appealing this scam,” he said.
Trump will have 30 days from the date of his July 11 sentencing to file a notice of appeal.
Biden slams accusations of ‘rigged trial’; ex-president still faces far more serious charges, but trials may not take place before election
President Joe Biden, who will face Trump in the Nov. 5 election, said Trump had been given an opportunity to defend himself in the same justice system that applies to all Americans.
“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Biden, 81, said at the White House.
Weakest case
The New York hush money case against Trump was considered the weakest by many legal experts, but it resulted in a stunning conviction and is likely to be the only one of the four facing the ex-president to be tried before the November election.
He has been indicted in Washington and Georgia on far more serious charges — seeking to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
He also faces charges in Florida for allegedly hoarding top secret documents after leaving office in January 2021 and refusing to return them.
The Republican, who is seeking to recapture the White House in November, won’t be hampered from campaigning even if he is incarcerated, nor would that prevent him from taking office if he were to win.
But the other cases facing Trump are considerably more complicated because they involve actions taken while he was president or after leaving the White House.
He would also not be able to pardon himself in the New York case if he becomes president, as it was not brought by the federal government, but by the state, where only the governor can clear his name.
More serious cases
Trump had been set to go on trial in Washington on March 4 on the election subversion charges but the case has been frozen pending a Supreme Court ruling on his claim that a former president is immune from prosecution.
A ruling is expected by the end of June but it is unlikely a trial can take place before November, when Trump is expected to take on Biden in a rematch of their 2020 contest.
The other election interference case — in Georgia — has been bogged down in appeals and a bid by Trump and his co-defendants to disqualify district attorney Fani Willis following revelations she had a romantic relationship with the man she hired as a special prosecutor.
Evidence in the Georgia case includes a taped phone call in which Trump asked a top state election official to “find” enough votes to reverse the result.
Eighteen co-defendants were indicted along with Trump on racketeering and other charges, including his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
In Florida, Trump is accused of endangering national security by holding onto secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House. The case had been scheduled to go on trial on May 20 but has been postponed indefinitely by District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee.