The jury is deliberating, and we should be prepared for a conviction. That’s not to say there isn’t reasonable doubt all over the hush money trial involving Donald Trump, but this whole trial was a circus from the start so it’s unsurprising that its finish was more of a clown show. As Katie wrote this morning, none of this is normal. The judge’s instructions to the jury is aberrant, with some folks commenting on social media that these guidelines for the jury wouldn’t be legal in Zimbabwe. It will only take four jurors to convict Trump [emphasis mine]:
Judge Merchan just told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict. 4 could agree on one crime, 4 on a different one, and the other 4 on another. He said he would treat 4-4-4 as a unanimous verdict.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 29, 2024
What?? https://t.co/RaWmh0cAVX
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 29, 2024
That's not even legal in Zimbabwe.
— U.S. Ministry of Truth (@USMiniTru) May 29, 2024
This is insane.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 29, 2024
New York Judge Merchan just told jurors that they DO NOT have to unanimously agree on what crime Trump is guilty of.
It could be a 4-4-4 split.
pic.twitter.com/lPrWlQYHau
…Judge Juan Merchan has given the jury their instructions…the instructions were given verbally and jurors won't receive printed copies, although they can ask questions.
According to legal experts, Merchan's standards for a conviction are abnormal and do not require jurors to reach a unanimous decision on the charges. Further, jurors don't have to determine what crime was committed.
"Judge Merchan has ruled that the jury does not have to agree on what that crime is. The jury could split into three groups of four on which of the three crimes were being concealed and Merchan will still treat it as a unanimous verdict," George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, who has been inside the courtroom, writes. "The jury has been given little substantive information on these crimes, and Merchan has denied a legal expert who could have shown that there was no federal election violation. This case should have been dismissed for lack of evidence or a cognizable crime."
You read that right: 4-4-4 is a unanimous verdict. The only thing that’s criminal in this trial is the trial itself.
We knew this legal affair would go off the rails when jury selection began. The voir dire phase was a shambles, as the entire pool was already tainted. Everyone has a side regarding Donald Trump, which is precisely why political trials shouldn’t happen, but that’s another matter. The jury alone wasn’t a promising side for the Trump team.
Then, as Turley noted, an expert witness, Bradley Smith, the former chairman of the FEC, was denied permission to testify by Merchan, a Democratic Party donor whose daughter is also a liberal political operative, for the defense. Guy has elaborated on this all month. The heart of the charge against Trump is that he essentially committed a campaign finance violation by falsifying business records to cover up this arrangement. Right, because this alleged tryst would’ve swayed minds; Everyone was decided before Stormy Daniels came onto the scene.
Alas, Smith did take to social media to give his take on the trial, which he called a farce. And I didn’t even get into how much of a joke Michael Cohen was being the prosecution’s star witness. This serial liar admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization on the stand and being unrepentant about it.
A trainwreck jury selection, muzzling expert witnesses for the defense, and now lowering the bar on convictions where it only takes four guilty votes. Turley was also stunned that Josh Steinglass, a prosecution member, was permitted to offer "evidence outside the record" during closing arguments yesterday that lasted roughly four hours.
...We are about to restart. I am mystified how the court has allowed Steinglass to effectively give evidence outside of the record. Next break is supposed to be around 5:30 according to the judge.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 28, 2024
This nonsense is happening right now. The Left is degrading and eroding constitutional norms for political purposes because now Joe Biden is in real danger of losing re-election.
Four votes is a unanimous verdict. That’s Biden’s America. Greg Price summed up this travesty on Twitter:
- The Soros funded DA elevated a misdemeanor to a felony despite lowering 60% of all felonies for actual criminals in his jurisdiction
- The lead prosecutor resigned his position as the 3rd highest ranking member of Biden's DOJ to join Alvin Bragg's team going after Trump.
- The judge donated to Joe Biden and has a daughter who raised millions of dollars for Democrats off the Trump prosecutions
- The other lead prosecutor also donated to Joe Biden
- The lead witness that the whole case relies on is a convicted perjurer and serial liar who admitted during the trial to stealing money from the Trump organization
- The judge put a gag order on Donald Trump for pointing out the political conflicts of interest of the people prosecuting him
- The "crime" relies on the idea that Trump paid off Stormy Daniels to conceal another crime, which is not mentioned in the indictment.
- The judge barred Trump's defense from explaining to jury that no campaign finance violation occurred but allowed prosecutors to assert as fact in their closing that there was.
- The judge cleared out the court room when Michael Cohen's former attorney was exonerating Trump but allowed the prosecution to bring in Stormy Daniels to talk about whether or not Trump used a condom.
- The judge barred a former FEC commissioner from testifying that Donald Trump did nothing wrong.
The judge is allowing the jury to not have to reach a unanimous verdict on the underlying, unnamed crime Trump committed.What did I miss?
I'll close with what Guy fears a guilty verdict from a rigged trial could bring for the country:
I am genuinely concerned about a scenario in which a Trump conviction is jerry-rigged by the partisan DA & judge, which then plausibly tips a close election…*after* which the verdict is (quite likely) overturned on appeal. We are already in a pretty unhealthy place as a country. pic.twitter.com/AbVy7gVrFQ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 29, 2024
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