Donald Trump is guilty, but still committed no crime
The excuses that Democrats made for Bill Clinton in 1998 are much more applicable to Donald Trump in 2024.
The thing that is amazing about Donald Trump getting convicted of 34 "felonies" is that almost no one - save for Trump himself - disputes the facts of the case. Trump committed adultery against his wife with porn "star" (also known as a prostitute) Stormy Daniels, then paid Daniels to be silent about their affair. The dispute is about whether what Trump did was actually illegal.
The legal theory is that Trump paid Daniels to cover up the adultery until after the 2016 election. At its core, this is about election denial: Had the adultery been revealed, he may not have won. Never mind that Trump had decades of a very public history of being a man-whore, and that the "grab them" tape became public immediately before the 2016 election. Would it have changed any votes at all? Doubtful. But Democrats will never get over losing in 2016, so they are still trying to punish Trump for winning that election eight years later.
Trump is psychologically incapable of admitting wrongdoing, so his response was "deny everything, and punch back." Had he admitted to the affair and argued the hush money was to protect his wife and ten year old child, he could have made a stronger legal case that there was no "crime" to cover up. Since he used personal funds rather than campaign funds, the case against Trump is far weaker than the case against John Edwards, who also paid to cover up adultery.
Listening to Democrats prattle on about how this case shows Trump "is not above the law" is repulsive. I am old enough to remember 1998, when Democrats stubbornly defended Bill Clinton after his adultery with Monica Lewinsky became public. Democrats brushed aside perjury, subornation of perjury, and obstruction of justice, saying the case was "all about sex." Keep in mind that Clinton committed his crimes (and committed adultery) while he was in office. Trump committed adultery with Daniels a decade before he ran for President, and paid hush money before he was elected. The excuses that Democrats made for Clinton are much more applicable to Trump.
The most absurd part of the case was that the jury did not even have to agree on what "crime" Trump was attempting to conceal with the hush money payments. Trump has not even been charged with, much less convicted of, the other "crimes" he was trying to conceal by paying Daniels to be silent. This was a show trial from the very beginning, designed to get a guilty verdict. In managing to "get" Trump, the prosecutors and the judge only managed to discredit themselves and the criminal justice system in New York. So no, I do not respect the jury's ruling.
Finally, we should not forget this fact: Had Trump not committed adultery against his wife with a porn "star" (who probably has a three figure body count) and paid her to be silent, there would be no case to prosecute. This is a problem that is 100% of Trump's own making. Was this prosecution an abuse of the law? Yes. Did Trump do this to himself? Also yes. Avoiding this particular case would have been very easy, if only the ex-President had displayed restraint and good judgment. Republicans need to stop pretending that Trump is an innocent victim.