UPDATE: Speaking outside the courtroom, President Donald Trump vows to appeal and fight on.
***Original post***
After more than five weeks of show trial in a New York City courtroom, former President Donald Trump was found guilty by a jury on all charges brought against him. In August 2023, Trump was charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree — felonies. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and consistently denied any wrongdoing.
During the trial, Bragg’s team didn’t focus on proving the fraud charges. Instead, prosecutors honed in on legal “hush money payments” and highlighted, irrelevant salacious details of an alleged affair. Jurors were also instructed by Judge Juan Merchan that they did not have to be unanimous in their decision.
Over the past weeks, Trump was repeatedly threatened with jail time by Judge Merchan for “violating” an unconstitutional gag order. The Trump legal team repeatedly pointed out Merchan’s ties to Democratic activists, including his daughter.
“The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is president of Authentic Campaigns, a Chicago-based progressive political consulting firm whose top clients include Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who was the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and the Senate Majority PAC, a major party fundraiser,” the New York Post reports. “Two major Democratic clients of the daughter of the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush-money trial have raised at least $93 million in campaign donations — and used the case in their solicitation emails — raising renewed concerns that the jurist has a major conflict of interest.” Merchan also has a history of donating to Democrats, including Trump opponent President Joe Biden. Judge Juan Merchan regularly aided the prosecution against Trump while tying the hands of the defense. According to legal experts, Merchan’s standards and instructions to the jury for a conviction were abnormal and did not require jurors to reach a unanimous decision on the charges. Further, jurors don’t have to determine what crime was committed.
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, a key witness for New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, was repeatedly cornered on the stand for a series of lies and inconsistencies. Cohen also admitted he stole tens-of-thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization.
Republicans descended on the courthouse to show support for Trump and to condemn ongoing lawfare efforts by Democrats to take the former president off of the 2024 campaign trail.
This is a breaking story, stay tuned for updates.
