Donald Trump was in "a great mood" as Thursday's court proceedings wound down. Then the verdict was handed down and the former president and those around him were gobsmacked.
Such was the color commentating of New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman recounting the moment Trump learned he'd become the first former president ever to be convicted of a felony crime and that it was also unanimous on all 34 counts.
As Trump and others in the courtroom expected to be told to go home after another day of jury deliberations, Haberman saw the 45th president pace back into the courtroom and described him in "a great mood" — in fact "one of the best moods we've seen him come in since this trial began."
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It was soon realized that after deliberating for less than 12 hours following seven weeks of gavel to gavel trial — the jury had reached a verdict.
"It was clear something was up and when [Judge Merchan] came back, he said that the jurors had said they had reached a verdict and they needed another 30 minutes to finish filling out their paperwork," she recalled. "And then they came in, they filed past him — one juror appeared to look at him out of the corner of his eye."
After guilty was read 34 times — once for each count of falsifying business records in order to influence the outcome of the 2016 election — Haberman said she saw Trump remain "basically quiet."
The result leaves the presumptive Republican nominee for president is officially a convicted felon.
"I've covered a lot of high profile verdicts in the past," she said. "And usually there is some, there's a reaction; and they were cautioned not to react. But normally people can't help it."
And yet there was no sound made afterward. And even Trump's entourage and the former president himself was slowly intaking the totality of the verdict.
"There was just silence," described Haberman. "I think that everybody was stunned around Trump, including Trump himself."'
Already, his defense has come forward confirming they would file motions to reverse the decision and ultimately appeal the verdict.
Trump himself declared afterward: "I'm a very innocent man."
