Trump Freaks Out at New York Trial Judge as Jury Deliberation Nears
Former President Donald Trump fired off a series of furious social media posts the night before–and in the days leading up to–the final crucial stretch of the former president’s hush-money trial in New York.
Both prosecutors and Trump’s defense lawyers on Tuesday will begin their week by addressing the jury in closing arguments. It is unknown how long the process will take but is expected to last all day, according to the Associated Press. Once closing arguments are complete, the jury will go into deliberations.
On Monday night, Trump once again criticized the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, and complained about the so-called “FAKE & MADE UP CASE” against him.
He referenced Bob Costello, a Trump witness whose testimony was widely panned as a failure. Trump, however, questioned why Costello was “so horribly treated and completely shut down by the Conflicted Judge.”
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Trump noted another complaint, but said he could not divulge the “BIGGEST EVENT OF THEM ALL” because of his gag order in the case, incorrectly claiming it was “illegal” and “unconstitutional.” He added: “This is the Biden White House at work. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”
In another post, he whined about the order in which the jury will hear the closing arguments from his legal team and from the prosecution’s attorneys.
“WHY IS THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT ALLOWED TO MAKE THE FINAL ARGUMENT IN THE CASE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN’T THE DEFENSE GO LAST?” he wrote. “BIG ADVANTAGE, VERY UNFAIR. WITCH HUNT!”
As former federal prosecutor and The Daily Beast commentator Shan Wu noted, “The prosecution bears the burden of proof and in some jurisdictions that means they go first and last—meaning the prosecution gets to rebut the defense. However, in New York, the defense goes first and then the prosecution—no rebuttal.”
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Trump has continually taken aim at Judge Merchan. Days before closing arguments, the former president unleashed on Merchan in an all caps-laden social media post.
“The reason the Radical, highly Conflicted Judge Juan Merchan had to come up with three FAKE options for the jury to choose from, without requiring them to be unanimous, which is completely UNAMERICAN AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL, is because the Corrupt, Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, couldn’t come close to proving that any crime was committed,” Trump wrote.
“THERE WAS NO CRIME,” he continued, arguing in a meandering way that he had legally paid a non-disclosure agreement to former porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election—which prosecutors have argued was an illegal attempt to shore up his chances of defeating Hillary Clinton.
“There is NO CASE, just a Democrat Persecutor controlled by Crooked Joe Biden’s White House, a Democrat Judge, and a biased venue,” he added.
Trump also railed against the week-long recess now underway, asserting that Merchan should have sequestered the jury.
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Separately, in an unusual attempt to commemorate the Memorial Day holiday, Trump wrote, “Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country, & to the Radical Left, Trump Hating Federal Judge in New York that presided over, get this, TWO separate trials, that awarded a woman, who I never met before (a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!), 91 MILLION DOLLARS for ‘DEFAMATION.’”
The jury could begin deliberating as soon as the middle of this week. Trump faces 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. If convicted, he could be sentenced to jail—an unprecedented scenario for a former president and a leading candidate heading into the November election.
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