Former President Donald Trump took aim at Judge Juan Merchan Thursday, arguing that the instructions he gave the jury were “unfair” and “confusing.”
“The Jury Instructions given by HIGHLY CONFLICTED Judge, Juan Merchan, were UNFAIR, MISLEADING, INACCURATE, AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL,” Trump said on Truth Social. “They were also VERY CONFUSING (Just what the Judge wanted!), BECAUSE THERE WAS NO CRIME!”
The remarks come as Trump continues to sit in the courtroom while jury deliberations continued Thursday, the second day jurors have had to consider the evidence in NY v. Trump.
In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, former president Donald Trump said Judge Juan Merchan prevented him from presenting certain evidence in court”
“Not only did this HIGHLY CONFLICTED, BIASED Judge, Juan Merchan, prevent me from presenting the fact that I did not take a Tax Deduction on the Legal Expense (which was marked, correctly, as a Legal Expense), the Judge also did not allow my lawyers to get Tax Records from the former attorney, whose name I am not allowed to mention due to the Unconstitutional Gag Order imposed upon me. ELECTION INTERFERENCE! WITCH HUNT!”
The former president made the comments as the jury entered the 11th hour of deliberations in the case against him, N.Y. v. Trump.
Former Trump payroll corporation attorney William J Brennan joined “America Reports” on Thursday to provide his analysis of NY v. Trump jury deliberations, saying it’s better for the defense the longer it takes jurors to deliberate.
“They’re certainly working back there,” Brennan said of the 12 jurors. “That buzzer could ring 20 more times with questions, it could in five minutes with a verdict. You just don’t know. It’s like waiting for a baby.”
“Shockingly, these payments to these three individuals on their face are not illegal,” he continued. “They have to show two things. They have to show there was malfeasance in the record keeping in the notations as to what the money was spent for. And then to make that huge leap to felony land, they have to show it was with the intent, not just the motive, but the intent to commit another crime — election fraud, election finance.”
He added, “I think, for what it’s worth, the longer that jury is out the better it bodes for the defense.”
For those following along, lunch is over and we are back in the courtroom and overflow room. It’s very quiet in here. We are wondering if today’s deliberations will end at 430 pm or 6 pm since the judge gave the jurors the option to work late – no update on that yet.
No updates. No notes. Very quiet. As I stare at the walls of the overflow room, I feel like we are going to end up going to 6 but I have nothing to base that on other than emotion.