In a wild tirade over Memorial Day weekend, former President Donald Trump slammed the judge presiding over his hush money trial, escalating his rhetoric on Truth Social as the trial nears its conclusion.
“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 fumed.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, linking these to three other alleged crimes: violating the Federal Election Campaign Act, election conspiracy by “unlawful means,” and tax fraud. The jury does not need to unanimously decide on which of these crimes Trump committed; they only need to agree that he falsified business records with the intent to cover up one of them.
Both sides rested their cases last week. Judge Merchan is set to instruct the jury, with deliberations possibly starting as soon as May 29. Prosecutors will argue that Trump violated federal election law by falsifying business records to silence Stormy Daniels about their alleged affair.
Trump’s defense maintains that he did not commit fraud, asserting that payments to his former attorney Michael Cohen were legitimate reimbursements for legal services.
Facing possible conviction, acquittal, or a hung jury—since New York law requires a unanimous verdict for conviction—Trump remains defiant, insisting he is innocent.
“THERE WAS NO CRIME. Legal Expense paid to a lawyer was marked, by a bookkeeper using a dropdown menu in a computer program, as Legal Expense paid to a lawyer. WHAT ELSE COULD YOU CALL IT? There is NO CASE, just a Democrat Persecutor controlled by Crooked Joe Biden’s White House, a Democrat Judge, and a biased venue. This is nothing but an Election Interfering Witch Hunt, and the American People know it! MAGA2024,” Trump declared.
