The Daily Signal - Jury Deliberates on Trump Criminal Case, GOP Legislators Question Trump Trial Judge, Alito Won’t Recuse Himself | May 29

Starting point is 00:00:01 This is the Daily Signal Top News for Wednesday, May 29th. I'm Virginia Allen. Former President Donald Trump is at the top of our headlines today. In a courtroom in Manhattan, a jury is deliberating on the criminal case of Donald Trump. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Now the jury will decide if Trump is guilty or innocent. Closing arguments in the case concluded around 8 p.m. last night and outside the courtroom this morning, Trump spoke to reporters and called the case rigged, per Fox News. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged. The whole country's a mess between the borders and fake elections. And you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted, he can't breathe. He's going to do his job. And it's not for me that I can tell you. it's a disgrace. And I mean that Mother Teresa could not beat those charges, but we'll see.

Starting point is 00:01:16 We'll see how we do. Joining us now to discuss the case and what to expect from the jury is former prosecutor and Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow, Zach Smith. Zach, thanks for being here. Of course. Thanks for having me on. Zach, what do you make of Trump saying even Mother Teresa couldn't beat these charges? Well, it's certainly, you know, par for the course with a president.

Starting point is 00:01:40 President Trump's way with words he has. But I do think it's an acknowledgement that he's facing a very tough jury pool here. This is a Manhattan jury, one that is likely not to be very favorable to Donald Trump. I think it's also an acknowledgement that the jury instructions that the judge in this case gave to the jury, what he told them the applicable law was, what facts they had to find beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict Donald Trump of these charges is not very favorable to Donald Trump. You know, keep in mind, the legal theory behind this case has always been very murky. It's always been very novel. Essentially, Alvin Bragg is trying to bootstrap what would ordinarily be bookkeeping misdemeanor offenses into felony offenses. And the way he has to do that is to show that essentially these bookkeeping offenses were done with the intent to cover up another crime.

Starting point is 00:02:33 Now, what that other crime is, that's somewhat of an open question. There's been a lot made about whether it's a federal campaign finance offense, which, by the way, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission both declined to pursue. But it's possible it could also be a state-level campaign finance offense, maybe a tax-related offense. We're not really sure. But the very unfavorable instruction the judge gave to the jury is essentially they don't all have to agree on what the underlying offense would be in order for these bookkeeping charges to be. elevated into felonies. That's a very unfavorable jury charge for Donald Trump. And it'll be very interesting to see if he's convicted, whether that will hold up on appeal. Are the instructions that Judge Juan Mershahn gave to the jury unusual, or is this pretty common? A lot of the jury instruction is boilerplate. There's common things that any trial judge in any courtroom around the country would tell the jury, an explanation of what reasonable doubt is, the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence. Those are typical types of instruction you receive. Now, some of the

Starting point is 00:03:41 instructions were unique to this case, and there were a lot of unique aspects to this case, certainly about the, he talked about the weight. The jury is entitled to give Michael Cohen's testimony, other factors that they can consider in giving weight to that testimony. And then, of course, there were the unique charges related to the specific offenses charged in this case. And I suspect if there are issues with the jury charges on appeal, again, if Donald Trump is convicted, which, by the way, isn't guaranteed, but it's certainly a possibility. That would be where I think those appellate issues would focus. Zach, take us into the room where the jury is.

Starting point is 00:04:22 What is the discussion that they're likely having right now? Well, this is the million-dollar question, Virginia. This is something every trial lawyer wants to know. What is the jury deliberating? how do they go about their process, all of those things. And I think we have some idea. You know, typically the jury, they have to go back. They have to get settled in. Keep in mind, this was a very long trial with a voluminous amount of evidence. We saw that the prosecution took many, many hours just to go through that evidence, trying to essentially overwhelm the jury with the volume of

Starting point is 00:04:56 evidence presented. And so it's going to take the jury a little bit of time to go through that evidence and sort through it and decide what they have to decide on each count in order for Donald Trump to either be acquitted or convicted. Now, I will say, Virginia, even though Donald Trump is facing a very unfavorable jury in this case, Michael Cohen's testimony on the stand was absolutely disastrous. And I think it's much more likely today that there's a possibility that there could be a hung jury, meaning the jury can't reach a unanimous verdict to either acquit or convict. that is a much more likely outcome today than it was at the beginning of the trial, but still, as you alluded to earlier, I think Donald Trump's comments recognize that even still, this is a very

Starting point is 00:05:44 unfavorable jury pool and the instructions the judge gave to the jury were very unfavorable for Donald Trump as well. So if a hung jury is within the realm of possibilities, what are the other possible outcomes here, Zach? Well, if the jury hangs, if they can't reach a verdict, certainly Alvin Bragg could retry Donald Trump on these charges. I would certainly hope he would not, but obviously prudence and good judgment has it been at the forefront of this case on Alvin Bragg's part. The judge could also enter a directed verdict, essentially saying that the prosecution hadn't met their burden of proof. I doubt he will do that as well, but that is a request that's still outstanding by the Trump

Starting point is 00:06:25 trial team. And then, of course, the jury could also either convict Donald Trump on some or all of the charges or they could acquit him on some or all of the charges as well. And what will be really interesting to watch if the jury does convict Donald Trump on some, even some of the charges, even if they don't convict him on all of the charges, what happens then? Will Donald Trump be sent to some type of custodial setting, Rikers Island, maybe a prison? Will he be sentenced to home confinement, probation, all of these are the unresolved questions that we'll have to wait to see because we've never before had a former president facing criminal charges and certainly not a leading candidate to once again be the president of the United States.

Starting point is 00:07:10 What a wild moment in American history. Zach, thank you for your time. We really appreciate you breaking this down for us. Of course. Thanks for having me on. Speaking of Trump's New York trial, Senator J.D. Vance sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding an investigation of gag orders put on former President Trump in the New York Hushmoney trial. The Ohio Republican said he wanted the Justice Department to investigate the orders

Starting point is 00:07:36 issued by Judge Juan Mershahn because he believes it violates Trump's free speech rights. Trump has repeatedly said during the trial that he feels his rights are being violated. The orders prevent him from publicly speaking about the witnesses or prosecutors in the case. Vance wrote of the gag orders and the trial in general, these statutes would seem to have quite a lot to say about the conduct of Juan Mershahn, the New York trial judge and Democrat political donor who has set up a kangaroo court for Donald Trump in Manhattan. Vance went on to say that it is particularly pernicious given that Trump will be the primary challenger to President Joe Biden in the November election. He wrote on Mershans' orders, a Republican presidential candidate has been made powerful. powerless to question the credibility of the witnesses testifying against him, the motivations of the prosecutors pursuing him, or the impartiality of the apparently conflicted judge fining him.

Starting point is 00:08:37 That would be disfavored in the best of circumstances, according to Vance. Vance gave Garland until June 28th to respond to the letter. But Vance is not the only one expressing concerns over Judge Juan Mershahn. New York Representative Elise Stefanox has filed a misconduct complaint against the judge. Stefanik wrote in her complaint that she didn't think that Trump being assigned to Judge Juan Mershahn was random. She wrote the potential misconduct pertains to a repeated assignment of acting justice Juan Mershaw, a Democrat Party donor to criminal cases related to President Donald Trump and his allies. Mershahn has made several donations to Biden and Democrats.

Starting point is 00:09:22 as Stefanik noted. According to federal election commission's records, Mershon contributed $15 to the Biden for president campaign in 2020 and then made a $10 contribution to the Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans. Stefanik said that Mershon also presided over the criminal trial against the Trump organization and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. This despite there being over two dozen justices, who could oversee the cases. Stefanaic wrote that Mershahn's daughter, Lauren Mershahn, is active in democratic politics. She works for a consulting firm called authentic campaigns

Starting point is 00:10:04 that, as Stefanik says, stands to profit greatly if Donald Trump is convicted. She further wrote, if justices were indeed being randomly assigned in the criminal term, the probability of two specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is quite low, and the probability of three specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is infinitesimally small. And yet we see acting justice Mershahn on all three cases.

Starting point is 00:10:35 Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito won't recuse himself in cases involving the 2020 election or January 6 trials. That's what Alito said in a letter response to Democrat senators Richard Durbin and Sheldon White. House of Illinois and Rhode Island, respectively. The senators had questioned Alito's flying of two flags, one an upside-down American flag and another an appeal to heaven flag used during the American Revolution. Alito wrote of the first incident in which an upside-down American flag hung in front of Alito's Virginia home. He said, as I have stated publicly, I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. I was not even aware of the upside down flag until it was called to my attention. As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days she refused.

Starting point is 00:11:31 My wife and I own our Virginia home jointly. She therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly. Alito said of the appeal to heaven flag, I recall that my wife did fly that flag for some period of time, but I do not remember how long it flew. And what is most relevant here, I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag. The Supreme Court Justice said that his wife has the right to the freedom of speech like anyone else and that she had every right to fly the flags as she wished. A book by the mother of Hunter Biden's estranged child, Navy Joan Roberts, is saying,

Starting point is 00:12:18 set to be released in late August. The tell-all book by London Roberts will be titled, Out of the Shadows, My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden. It will delve into the relationship that she had with the president's son, according to the Washington Examiner. The examiner published several lines of an excerpt from the book, including this one on how she met, Hunter. He was sitting there wearing nothing but Parrot Boxer briefs, organizing his pipes on his Rosemont Seneca, I was sitting in Barack Obama's actual chair from the Senate floor. I took another look at Hunter, this kind, intense, and startingly transparent man, and thought, this is definitely a guy I want to get to know better.

Starting point is 00:13:05 Well, that's just a brief excerpt, but the book description published by the examiner does go into more detail. The examiner writes that out of the shadows chronicles the roller coaster ride of a relationship, touching on the drug cook working in Rosemont Seneca's kitchen strip clubs where Hunter might try the poll himself, protecting him from would-be terrorists in New York City, the night she grabbed two guns and was certain she would have to fatally shoot a crazed M.M.A. fighter and dozens of other stories that make the laptop debacle seem routine. Well, that seems like a good place to leave it on today's show. Thanks so much for joining us for top news on the Daily Signal podcast. If you've not have the chance, make sure to check out our morning show. I am so pleased to be sitting down

Starting point is 00:13:50 with the Heritage Foundation's Jay Richards tomorrow morning. As we discuss his brand new book, Fight the Good Fight, How an Alliance of Faith and Reason can win the culture war. Catch that conversation tomorrow morning. And if you have a minute, make sure that you leave the Daily Signal podcast, a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. And be sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on new shows. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Kate Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Mary Margaret O'Lehann, and Tyler O'Neill.

Starting point is 00:14:30 Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more or support our work, please visitdailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Jury Deliberates on Trump Criminal Case, GOP Legislators Question Trump Trial Judge, Alito Won’t Recuse Himself | May 29

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