Now in a usual case, an indictment would be returned to a Magistrate Judge in a sealed hearing. It would remain under seal until arrest. But jake, again, we dont know if there is an indictment here. But if there is, its unclear if theyre going to follow the usual script, because this case is of course completely unprecedented. We got a little preview, though, in the maralago indictment. What happened there is the former president , youll probably remember, he broke the news On Truth Social, and then there was several days before we got the details of the case. The Special Counsel got a lot of feedback on handling it that way, allowing the former president to fill the void, not giving people information and the facts in an indictment, particularly in a case of this kind of historic significance. So it will be interesting to see today if, if there is an indictment, how they handle it. If it will be unsealed immediately when the former president will be notified. As you noted, it appears
presumptive republican nominee, defiant tonight, proclaiming his innocence, calling the process rigged, and accusing president biden of backing a political persecution as he addressed cameras outside the courtroom. the biden campaign saying, quote, we saw that no one is above the law. and how will a nation driven by political division react? our complete historic coverage, coming up. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening and welcome. guilty on all counts. donald j. trump, the 45th president of the united states, was found guilty late today in a new york courthouse on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments to a porn star just before the 2016 election. the stunning verdict was delivered by a manhattan jury of seven men and five women, who deliberated for two days, making mr. trump the first former american president to be convicted of a crime. he remains the presumptive republican nominee in the close race for preside
donald trump convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records after a manhattan jury deliberated for 9 1/2 hours. will the former president face prison time or just probation for the low-level felonies in the hush money case? and how will the judicial system handle the unprecedented case of a former president with secret service protection? the political fallout. how will this impact donald trump s campaign for the presidency. the real verdict is going to be november 5th. mr. trump, the presumptive republican nominee defiant tonight, proclaiming his innocence, calling the process rigged, and accusing president biden of backing a political persecution, as he addressed cameras outside the courtroom. the biden campaign saying, quote, we saw that no one is above the law. and how will a nation driven by political division react? our complete historic coverage, coming up. this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening and welcome, everyone. guilty on all cou
co-conspirators. co-conspirator 1 our guess would be rudy giuliani. i think that s a safe guess. these kids individuals have not been charged with anything, evan perez? at least in this document they re not being charged with the former president, jake. it is possible that we may yet see indictments that they are being charged simply. that s something that is certainly in our reporting, we were prepared to see when this finally came to pass. we are expecting to hear in the next hour from the justice department from the special counsel jack smith. the justice department is going to have him issue a public statement. that is something we don t expect he is going to answer any questions. but at least again puts the face of someone from the justice department who is going to speak to the american public and explain why they ve taken this extraordinary action, which is to indict the former president
you have a sense of timing? sooner than merrick garland was going to do it, and i know that s not saying much, but with the special prosecutor in the mix, i would expect that we will see something sooner than later, in terms of charges against donald trump. it s impossible to predict, because we don t know the status of where those investigations were, and how much more needs to be completed in order for him to feel confident, but i do, think again, it will be what we have seen before. charles, you are a smart man. we all know that, obviously. that is a very easy, safe guess, i would say when you are saying sooner rather than later, but i ll put that on the record. charles coleman junior for us, great to talk to you this morning. appreciate you joining us. ahead, everybody, a state of emergency still in effect for parts of buffalo and across western new york as well, after a deadly snow storm slams the area. we re going to go live to buffalo later on in the show, but up, first yo