Jury's voice the only one that matters, DA says following Trump guilty verdict

May 31 (UPI) -- The jury's verdict is "the only voice that matters," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thursday night after securing the first-ever guilty verdict of a U.S. president.

Former President Donald Trump was convicted by a jury Thursday on all 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records to conceal efforts to influence the 2016 election, which he won.

He is to be sentenced July 11 when he faces up to four years' imprisonment for doctoring business records to hide hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run up to the 2016 election over fears her going public about an alleged sexual encounter they had would cost him votes.

Speaking to reporters during a Thursday night press conference, Bragg said this type of white-collar prosecution is "core" to what his office does and that while Trump may be a former president they took on the case like any other in the office's 90-year history of targeting this type of crime.

"While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial, and ultimately today at this verdict, in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors: by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor," he said.

Bragg's office brought the charges against Trump in April of 2023, and received criticism from some over bring such a case against the former president.

Fielding questions from reporters Thursday night about the criticism, he simply responded: "I did my job."

"Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor," he said, stating he feels gratitude to work alongside the other members of his office.

"I did my job. We did our job. Many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken," he said.

Asked by reporters if he will seek a prison sentence for Trump, Bragg said he will let their words in court speak for themselves during the sentencing hearings, while remarking that though a guilty verdict has been secured, the case continues.