GUILTY AS CHARGED: Donald Trump, the man of self-proclaimed superlatives who claims to be the first, the best, and the most of everything … the only man who can save America … today is the first former president in the history of the country to be a convicted felon.

  He made history in a way he never dreamed. The typeface on the newspaper headlines is huge.

  After a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover his fling with a porn star in order to affect the outcome of the 2016 election, Trump came out of the courtroom yesterday claiming to be the victim of political prosecution and a rigged justice system.  The jury had deliberated only 10 hours over two days in what many analysts had said was a complicated case.

  “This was a rigged trial, disgraceful trial,” Trump said. “The real verdict is going to be November 5^thby the people and they know what happened here, everybody knows what happened here.” He gave no hint of admission or remorse while his campaign sent out an immediate fundraising appeal branding him as a “Political Prisoner.”

  Like his claims of election fraud, Trump has offered no evidence that this trial was rigged or the result of political persecution directed by The White House. 

  Eleven of the convictions were for falsified invoices, 12 for ledger entries, and 11 for checks written to Trump’s former lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen, who had fronted the $130,000 payoff to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

  Trump’s sentencing is set for July 11^th, just four days before the Republican National Convention at which he is certain to be made his party’s nominee for president. Judge Juan Merchan can sentence Trump to probation or four years in prison on each count, although that’s unlikely. 

  As a convicted felon in New York Trump can still vote and there’s nothing to stop him from serving as president.

  President Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying, “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.” 

  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump, was modest in his remarks to the press, making this sound like any of the routine cases that pass through his office. Bragg said, “This type of white collar prosecution is core to what we do at the Manhattan district attorney’s office.”

THE WAR ROOM: In a major reversal of policy President Biden has authorized Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. It is the first time a president has authorized attacks with US weapons against a nuclear-armed opponent.

  The decision follows a Russian offensive against Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city in the northeast. The administration is still not allowing the use of American long-range weapons, which Ukraine has been desperate to use against Russian targets. 

FLAG WAVING: Chief Justice John Roberts yesterday followed his colleague and spurned requests to have Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from cases related to the January 6^th Capitol insurrection after politically-inspired flags were flown over the justice’s properties. “Members of the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the practice we have followed for 235 years pursuant to which individual justices decide recusal issues,” he wrote.

  Alito has blamed his wife for flying an upside down American flag at their home in a sign of distress over the 2020 election, and the couple’s beach home the “Appeal to Heaven” flag adopted by the Christian right and the “Stop the Steal” movement. He said he will not step aside for the election cases. 

THE GUN RANGE: The Supreme Court ruled that the National Rifle Association can continue to pursue a First Amendment claim against a New York state official who had encouraged companies to stop doing business with the organization after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

  Maria Vullo, who was a superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, had told insurance companies and banks that they should reconsider providing services to the NRA. Writing the unanimous opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that a government official is allowed to “share her views freely and criticize particular beliefs,” but may not “use the power of the state to punish or suppress disfavored expression.”

THE SPIN RACK: In a tabloid murder case that involved a spiritual cult, sex, and money, Chad Daybell in Idaho was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of his first wife and two children of his second wife. 

Tammy Daybell had been found dead in her home and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, the children of his second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, were found buried on Chad Daybell’s property. Lori Daybell is already serving life in prison. — A Minneapolis police officer and two other people were killed yesterday in a shooting incident. The police said officer Jamal Mitchell was shot dead by a man to whom he was giving medical attention. — Bruhat Soma, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Tampa won the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee with a lightning spell-off against 12-year-old Faizan Zaki of Plano, Texas. In 90 seconds Bruhat spun through 29 obscure and difficult words, beating Faizan’s correct spelling of 20. His final word was “abseil,” another word for rappelling off a mountain. “I can’t describe it,” Bruhat said, as the confetti rained down. “I’m still shaking.” He won $50,000. 

BELOW THE FOLD: After watching a show in which he said topless women simulated sex and performers gave lap dances, a man who attended a Madonna concert has sued the Queen of Pop for being exposed to “pornography without warning” and suffering emotional distress.

-30-