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A New York jury has found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts of doctoring business records to cover up a hush-money scheme before the 2016 election, making him the first former U.S. president to be criminally convicted, mere months before he aims to recapture the White House.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to hide a US$130,000 payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels. The seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated for a day-and-a-half. They found that the falsifications were made in order to further violations of campaign-finance and tax laws, making the counts felonies. Prosecutors had argued the payment was an illegal campaign contribution, because it was meant to help Trump’s presidential bid.
The conviction could result in prison time for the former president, but any sentence will likely be stayed pending appeal, which probably wouldn’t be decided until after the Nov. 5 election. It remains to be seen what effect, if any, the verdict will have on the rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Read more:
- Analysis: How Trump’s guilty verdict will play out is among the deepest mysteries of the election year
- Trump’s allies and foes react to and attempt to capitalize on his guilty verdict
- Trump supporters call for riots and violent retribution after verdict
Former president Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press
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Haiti’s gangs ramp up violence as nation awaits intervention by foreign forces
The gangs that control much of Haiti have in recent weeks been escalating their campaign of violence against the national police, in a display of power designed for the international community ahead of a planned intervention.
The country’s Presidential Transitional Council has appointed a new Prime Minister to nominally lead the country, although the body is seen as illegitimate by many Haitians and has little authority.
In the town of Gressier, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, a group of men armed with semi-automatic weapons set fire to a police vehicle on Monday, sending a thick column of smoke into the air. They claim to have killed two officers and wounded another. Globe and Mail photographer Goran Tomasevic captured the scene, including the charred remains of an unidentified body lying near the wreckage.
A gang member, carrying a semi-automatic rifle, wears a mask to protect his identity.GORAN TOMASEVIC/The Globe and Mail
Federal Health Minister criticizes panel’s guidance on mammograms
The federal health minister is “disappointed” that a federal panel recommended against lowering the starting age for routine mammograms to 40 and will expedite a review of the task force, an organization that some critics say should be disbanded.
Mark Holland and several advocacy organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society, said on Thursday that they disagreed with the long-awaited draft mammography recommendations from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, a federally funded but independent organization that provides advice to primary-care doctors and nurses.
- When are Canadians eligible for breast cancer screenings? Guidelines for each province and territory
Minister of Health Mark Holland speaks with reporters about breast cancer screening recommendations, in Ottawa, May 30, 2024.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
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Also on our radar
Trudeau defends withholding cabinet documents: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued his government has already shared enough information with the foreign interference inquiry and defended withholding secret cabinet documents requested by inquiry Commissioner Justice Marie-Josée Hogue.
Nesto in talks to buy controlling stake in CMLS Financial: Online mortgage lender Nesto Inc. is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Canada’s third-largest nonbank mortgage lender CMLS Financial Inc., according to sources.
Brookfield in talks to take Neoen private: Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in French renewable energy provider Neoen with a bid that values the company’s shares at €6.1-billion ($9-billion) and includes a plan to take the company private.
Stephen Poloz asks pension funds for ideas: Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz has asked pension fund leaders to send him concrete ideas by the end of this week about how to entice their funds to invest more in Canada as an initial step in a process Ottawa launched in its April budget.
Construction of energy export terminal in B.C. approved: AltaGas Ltd. and Royal Vopak NV have approved the construction of a $1.35-billion terminal in B.C. to export energy products such as propane to Asia.
Israeli air strike on Rafah kills 12 Palestinians: At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday, and fighting raged in several other areas of the coastal enclave, Gaza medics said.
Morning markets
Global shares were little changed in subdued trading as investors await key U.S inflation figures that will shape the Federal Reserve’s thinking on interest rates when it meets mid-June.
The MSCI All Country Stock index and the pan-European STOXX index of 600 companies were flat in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.25 per cent, Germany’s DAX was down 0.11 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.07 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.14 per cent higher at 38,487.9, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.83 per cent to 18,079.61.
The Canadian dollar traded at 73.30 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Nicaragua better than Canada? Try again, Mr. Poilievre
“It’s pretty poor form for a federal political leader in this country to put out a video suggesting thousands are fleeing Canada for the many wonders of Nicaragua. For all of that country’s merits, to suggest it offers a better life than is available here is a joke.” – Gary Mason
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Dating is going offline again
The mind games and ghosting, the rejection, the scammers, the players: From Gen Z to seniors, people are fed up with online dating – and going back to the basics. Burnt out and disillusioned by pricey dating apps with dodgy algorithms, some people have quit swiping in favour of old-school mixers and speed dating. It shows in the numbers: Overall app downloads for Tinder, Hinge and Bumble in the U.S. have declined since a pandemic high in 2020.
Moment in time: May 31, 1819
Poet Walt Whitman is born
American writer Walt Whitman in 1863.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Walt Whitman, who was born on this day in 1819, was 36 when he paid out-of-pocket to publish his first book of poetry: Leaves of Grass. The original 12-poem edition – expanded to include more than 400 by his final “deathbed edition” – is the quintessential work of a man widely considered the American father of free verse. Controversial for its overt sensuality at the time, Leaves of Grass’s first-person narration would become the podium for Whitman’s celebrated American egalitarian values. Despite his democratic rallying cries and glorification of freedoms, many critics doubt that Whitman envisioned a truly inclusive United States. Either way, there is no denying his fame, something that, after his death in 1892, manifested in Whitman “fellowships” – sometimes bordering on cults. For a time, “Whitmania” was particularly strong in Ontario, where Whitman visited for several months in 1880, even influencing Group of Seven painters and subsequently Emily Carr, who, according to a close friend, “always kept his Leaves of Grass by her side.” Whitman’s words and life have been referenced in pop culture, manipulated in commercials and celebrated by queer communities, but like many white historical figures of his era, remembering Whitman now is, at best, complicated. Paul Voll.
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