NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — For the first time in United States history, a former U.S. president has been convicted of a crime.
Former President Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.
Dr. Benjamin Melusky, Old Dominion University associate professor of political science, spoke to the significance of the historical verdict.
“It’s adding a new chapter in our legal textbooks,” Melusky said. “It’s adding a new point in our American history for things that we will be discussing for future generations.”
He added that although Trump is still eligible to run for the presidency in November, this could still affect the upcoming election one way or another.
But the main question people have is this. Could Trump go to prison?
Melusky told 10 On Your Side that if it was an average person who was violating gag orders and possibly not showing remorse, they would have a strict sentencing.
He said, however, that a former president is no average person.
“But this is an unprecedented case,” Melusky said. “So for the former president, the judge could do a variety of things. He could go to jail. He could do weekends in jail. He could do community service. He could do stay at home kind of probation or a stay-at-home conviction.”
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott told 10 On Your Side’s Raven Payne that this proves no one is above the law.
“I think it’s important that we all accept the verdict,” Scott said. “The jury did their job and President Trump is guilty on all 34 counts. And I think, hopefully, he will accept the verdict, accept the sentence, and not try to undermine our judicial system and try to undermine our electoral system.”
Many legislators took to X to make statements about the verdict.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin called it a “politically motivated prosecution orchestrated by those who want to “get” President Trump.
Attorney General Jason Miyares also made a statement saying in part, “In America, we don’t seek to jail political opponents – we seek to defeat them at the ballot box.”
Trump’s sentencing is set for July 11.
