ZWF: The first president to be convicted of a crime
Zander's Weekend Facts #121: Sunday, June 2, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, former President Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be found guilty of a crime, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Episode 137 features a preview of the NBA Playoffs with Zander’s Facts senior NBA analyst Hill Billy. Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, June 2, 2024:
Trump found guilty on all counts in New York case
Former President Donald Trump continues to make his mark in the American history books, and not in a good way.
On Thursday, Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts after prosecutors in New York accused the former president of issuing a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to illegally influence that election. Daniels testified that the two had sex in 2006 and the payment was made to ensure Daniels didn’t publicly discuss the affair before the election.
The jury’s verdict came quite quickly, after just under two days of deliberations, with all 12 members unanimously coming to the conclusion that Trump had violated all 34 charges, including falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up the payment.
Trump now becomes the first president in the history of the United States to be convicted of a crime, and Trump’s legal troubles don’t appear to be dying down.
Trump will still await sentencing in the New York trial, which Judge Juan Merchan set for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention begins, where Trump is expected to be named the Republican Party’s nominee for this year’s presidential election. Prison time is a possibility for the former president, although it will be up to Merchan whether that would be imposed. Trump has also stated his intent to appeal the verdict.
A federal case involving Trump’s handling of classified documents that was originally scheduled to begin last month was indefinitely postponed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, with a start date now unknown. Another federal case, involving Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, has also been paused to await a Supreme Court ruling on whether Trump’s actions were protected by presidential immunity, which is expected later this month.
And a start date has yet to be decided upon in a Georgia case involving Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. A start date likely won’t come until after a state appeals court rules on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on the case. Trump’s team alleges Willis has a conflict of interest in the case.
For the time being, Trump remains a free man who is still eligible to run for and serve as president. Of course, that doesn’t mean it would be a good idea, considering the myriad of issues with the man that stem far beyond his legal troubles.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from the Associated Press - Guilty: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of felony crimes
What Zander’s been reading
The diverging diamond interchange continues to show up on roads across America, and while they do make you feel like you’re driving on the wrong side of the road, their benefits quickly become clear.
Check out this week’s featured article on NPR - When driving on the wrong side of the road is the right way to speed up traffic - (Apple News link)
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Israel-Hamas Proposal: President Joe Biden revealed a proposal on Friday he said had been offered by Israel that could result in a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The proposal would include the Israeli army withdrawing from Gaza along with the country releasing detained Palestinians, in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages held since October and the remains of hostages who have died. The proposal does not define who would govern the territory but does outline a three- to five-year reconstruction period in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Saturday by claiming his country would not agree to a permanent ceasefire that kept Hamas in power.
Mexico Election: Mexico is set to elect its first female president in the nation’s history later today in the country’s presidential election. Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Head of Government of Mexico City, is currently leading in the polls and is expected to be elected the country’s next president. Sheinbaum would succeed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, both of whom are members of the National Regeneration Movement coalition. Xóchitl Gálvez, a former member of the Mexican Senate, is the other major candidate running in the election. Also up for election today are all 628 seats in the country’s legislature, as well as nine governors and over 19,000 local officials.
Samuel Alito: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was caught up in controversy last week after The New York Times reported on flags flown outside his properties co-opted by supporters of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. One incident included an upside-down American flag flying outside Alito’s Virginia home in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. Alito wrote to Democratic members of Congress last week announcing his decision not to recuse himself from Supreme Court cases involving Trump, stating the incidents “do not meet the conditions for recusal.”
Papua New Guinea Landslide: A devastating landslide in Papua New Guinea left over 2,000 people dead last week. Papua New Guinea is located in Oceania, north of Australia, and shares a land border with Indonesia. The figure comes from the country’s National Disaster Centre, which found that the landslide in a remote part of the country buried many more people than previously estimated. It is estimated that almost 4,000 people lived in the area where the landslide hit, taking place in the early morning hours last Friday.
National Zoo Pandas: Giant pandas will be returning to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. later this year, it was announced on Wednesday. Two two-year-old giant pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, will arrive in D.C. from China later in the year. The announcement came after Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who had lived in D.C. since 2000, returned to China last year alongside their son Xiao Qi Ji. The pandas, which Chinese President Xi Jinping referred to as “envoys of friendship” between the two countries last year, will remain at the National Zoo through at least 2034. China had earlier confirmed last month that it would send two pandas to the San Diego Zoo.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NBA Finals: The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks will face off in the 2024 NBA Finals after bypassing their conference championship opponents relatively easily. The Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the first time the Celtics have swept an opponent since the First Round of the 2022 Playoffs. In the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks took down the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, only dropping Game 4. The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday with Game 1 tipping off at 8:30 pm ET in Boston. All games in the series will air on ABC.
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Florida Panthers advanced to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final for the second straight season on Saturday. The Panthers took down the New York Rangers 2-1 in Saturday’s Game 6 to win the series 4-2 and become the Eastern Conference champions. The Western Conference Finals have yet to be decided, with the Edmonton Oilers currently leading the series 3-2 over the Dallas Stars. Game 6 takes place tonight at 8:00 pm ET on TNT, truTV, and Max, with Game 7 being held on Tuesday night at 8:30 pm ET if the Stars win Game 6. The Stanley Cup Final will begin on Saturday, with all games in the series beginning at 8:00 pm ET and airing on ABC and ESPN+.
UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid won their 15th UEFA Champions League title with a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. 15 titles is more than double any other European club, with AC Milan’s seven sitting in second place. Despite looking like the inferior team for the majority of the match, Madrid’s Daniel Carvajal headed a ball into the goal in the 74th minute, with Vinicius Junior scoring in the 83rd to put Los Blancos out of reach. In the day’s other continental club soccer final, Pachuca blanked Columbus Crew 3-0 in the Concacaf Champions Cup Final, the club’s 6th title in the competition.
Bill Walton: Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton died on Monday from cancer at age 71. Walton won two national championships in college at UCLA under coach John Wooden, with a collegiate record of 86-4 for the Bruins. In the pros, Walton won an NBA championship with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 and with the Boston Celtics in 1986, and was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in the 1977-78 season. After retiring from basketball, Walton served as a television analyst for college and NBA games on ABC, CBS, and NBC. More recently, Walton commentated on Pac-12 Conference basketball games for ESPN and the Pac-12 Network.
Negro Leagues: Major League Baseball made history on Wednesday by officially including statistics from seven different Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 in the historic MLB record books. The stats being included are the result of a project launched in 2020 when the leagues were recognized as Major Leagues by MLB, with more Negro Leagues stats expected to be added in the future. Josh Gibson, who played in the Negro Leagues from 1930-1946, is now the all-time batting champion, with a batting average of .372, while also surpassing Babe Ruth with a slugging percentage of .718.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, June 9, 2024.
