The courthouse steps.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media outside of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)
With respect to the presidential election that is now just 159 days away, all eyes today are on 100 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, site of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.
Closing arguments in the so-called “hush money” trial brought by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg against former president Donald Trump wrapped up yesterday. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts surrounding a payment that he made in 2016 through his then attorney Michael Cohen to former porn star Stormy Daniels. The payment was made to secure a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels over her allegation that she and Trump were involved in an illicit affair dating back to 2006.
If convicted on all counts, Trump could theoretically face more than 130 years in a New York state prison.
FOX News Radio’s Brooke Singman has been covering the trial from the beginning and she filed this report this morning.
In total, jurors heard about eight hours of closing arguments. Court went late to accommodate the prosecution’s nearly five-hour long presentation, which focused mainly on whether their star witness, Michael Cohen, could be trusted. Meanwhile, Trump attorney Todd Blanch spent the majority of his closing arguments attacking Cohen’s credibility, calling him the MVP of liars. And after weeks of avoiding the trial, the Biden campaign showed up outside of the courthouse for an event of their own, taking jabs at the former president with the help of Hollywood actor Robert De Niro. The jury will deliberate until 4:30 this evening and continue tomorrow if a verdict is not reached. Deliberations because last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Brooke Singman, FOX News.”
As he has done on nearly every day of the trial, former president Trump addressed the media outside the courthouse yesterday. And as he has done on nearly every day of the trial, he did not mince words when expressing his opinion of trial judge Juan Merchan.
This is all election hunting, election interference. It’s going after Joe Biden’s political opponent because he can’t do it himself. And they’re helping out. And we have a judge who is highly conflicted. He happens to be corrupt.”
All except the most partisan of legal experts have said that Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump is questionable at best. Bragg’s case is extremely difficult to follow and understand.
Arkansas senator Tom Cotton summed it up like this.
Any American with common sense can see that this judge has been a partisan who continues to put his thumb on the finger of this sham prosecution. He hasn’t even required Alvin Bragg to identify the underlying crime that Donald Trump is supposedly charged with. Just think about that.”
In any event, most observers seem to believe that Trump will be convicted by a jury that was drawn from a Manhattan jury pool in which more than eight out of ten voters voted against Donald Trump.
If Trump is convicted, he will become the first convicted felon in U.S. history to be running for the office of President of the United States.
