Donald Trump found guilty on all counts in ‘hush money’ trial

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Donald Trump has been found guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of a porn actor days before the 2016 election and covering his tracks in business records, becoming the first former US president to be convicted of a crime as he seeks a second term in office.

The unanimous verdict in the Manhattan “hush money” case came at just after 5pm local time on Thursday afternoon, after almost two days of deliberation by the seven men and five women of the jury. 

Over the course of the five-week trial, jurors had  heard from one-time prominent figures in Trump’s orbit, who outlined a “catch and kill” scheme to suppress a story of an alleged extramarital encounter with Stormy Daniels, after she threatened to go public with her tale.

This is a developing story