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| - As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump prepared to reenter the White House in January 2025, social media users questioned whether he had ever been convicted of any felonies.
One particularly prominent video showed conservative media personality Megyn Kelly at a September 2024 conference, hosted by the "All-In" podcast, discussing Trump's civil and criminal legal challenges. The footage was shared to X with a caption that claimed he had never been convicted of any felonies: "Psst…. Trump has never been convicted of anything."
Other X users replied to that X post in agreement, with comments such as: "No he hasn't" and: "Yep!! Not Convicted." One user elaborated: "Zero convictions, I can't stand liberals and Democrats man they make me physically sick man I love Megan Kelly thank God they pushed her this way."
In short, it is inaccurate to say that Trump has never been convicted of any felonies. In May 2024, he became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes after a New York jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment to an adult-film star to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. Therefore, we have rated this claim as false.
Civil Cases vs. Criminal Cases
Trump has faced both civil and criminal legal cases in recent years, so it is important to understand the differences between the two.
Criminal cases result in a guilty or not-guilty verdict. A criminal trial involves the government bringing charges against someone charged with committing a crime.
Civil trials involve a conflict between individuals or businesses and institutions. In a civil case, a jury would "find" for a plaintiff or defendant. If the jury finds the plaintiff liable, the jury or the court then determines an amount the defendant should pay the plaintiff in damages.
Civil cases do not impose prison time or other criminal penalties and, as such, require a different standard of proof:
In general, crimes must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas civil claims are proven by lower standards of proof, such as the preponderance of the evidence.
"Beyond a reasonable doubt" means the prosecution has provided evidence that proves that there is no other reasonable explanation outside of the defendant's guilt.
"Preponderance of the evidence" means it is more likely than not that something occurred in a certain way.
What Was Said in the Megyn Kelly Video?
Some social media users have interpreted the video of Kelly defending Trump as evidence that he has never been convicted of any felonies — i.e., he has never been found guilty in a criminal case.
The clip showed the former Fox News presenter correcting podcast host Jason Calacanis, who falsely stated that Trump was "guilty of three [cases] so far" and had "been convicted of three." Kelly responded by saying Trump hadn't been convicted in three criminal cases, but acknowledged that in journalist and author E. Jean Carroll's sexual abuse lawsuit against Trump — a civil case — he was found liable.
Calacanis then described a where Trump was found liable for fraud, which, again, Kelly noted was a civil case in which Trump was not convicted. As the host brought up a third case, without specifying what he was referring to, the other panelists interrupted him before Kelly said Trump "got a bad result."
Kelly then claimed that in all five cases — including other criminal cases against Trump that had yet to go to trial — the prosecutors, juries and/or judges in the jurisdictions where Trump was facing his numerous legal battles were "conspiring" against him. She even questioned the validity of one New York case (it was not clear which one she was referring to), saying: "New York jury, New York went 87% for Joe Biden, that fix was in right from the start."
However, a YouTube video posted by Kelly's verified channel showed a longer version of the exchange, during which the conservative media personality indicated that Trump had been convicted in a criminal trial.
She said Judge Juan Merchan — who presided over Trump's criminal hush money trial — is almost "in a position where he might have to sentence [Trump] to jail, given how big they've tried to make it." A sentencing in a criminal case can only happen through either an admission of guilt by the defendant (in this case, Trump) or if a jury finds a defendant guilty of charges, which they did in Trump's case.
However, Kelly posited: "It would be a suspended sentence, it would be immediately appealed and I think Trump, on appeal, would win. There are so many holes in that case, so I don't think Trump will ever do one single day in jail."
Therefore, the video shared on X does not prove that Trump has never been convicted of any felonies. In the longer version posted to YouTube, by saying that he was facing a potential sentence, Kelly conceded that Trump had been convicted of felonies.
Trump's Criminal Hush-Money Case
In May 2024, a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from a payment to silence adult-film star Stormy Daniels. The charges arose from 11 checks, 11 invoices and 12 vouchers connected to the monthly payments from the former president to his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who made the initial $130,000 payment to Daniels.
Trump was found guilty and therefore convicted of felony crimes. However, as of this writing Trump had not been sentenced by Merchan, who put the case on hold until Nov. 19, 2024. Merchan is reportedly having the lawyers on both sides of the case weigh in on what should be done after Trump's election victory. A tentative sentencing date has been set for Nov. 26, 2024, but there is a range of scenarios for what could happen next.
Merchan could potentially wait to sentence Trump until after his presidential term is up, or he could overturn the verdict based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution. Merchan could also dismiss the case, or alternatively go ahead and sentence Trump.
Regardless, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts and therefore has been convicted of felonies.
Trump's Civil Cases
Trump has been found liable in two civil cases. In May 2023, a New York jury determined Trump had defamed Carroll by denying that he had sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s. At the conclusion of the civil proceeding, the jury agreed that Trump was liable both for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her. However, they declined to hold Trump liable for rape.
In the second case, a New York judge found that Trump had knowingly deceived banks and insurers about the size of his wealth and his property values and ordered him to pay a $454 million penalty. The AP reported that the judge found that Trump, his company and his sons had schemed to pad his net worth by billions of dollars as a means to get loans and secure deals. Again, this was a civil case and did not result in prison time for Trump.
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