A verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial could come as soon as Wednesday as jurors have started weighing the historic criminal case against the former president.
The 12 Manhattanites — five women and seven men — were sent to the jury room around 11:30 a.m. to start deciding whether Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to prosecutors’ allegations that he tried to cover up a conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.
“Mother Theresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see,” Trump, 77, said as he left the courtroom, repeating his claim that the case is “rigged.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office claims Trump had his then-fixer Michael Cohen pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 on the eve of the election to silence her story about sleeping with the real estate mogul once in 2006. The payment, allegedly made to help Trump’s election bid, exceeds the amount an individual can contribute to a campaign, prosecutors argued.
Over six weeks of testimony, the jury heard from 22 witnesses, including Cohen, who testified that he fronted the hush money payment to Daniels and was repaid by the Trump Organization, which logged the checks as legal expenses.
Daniels also took the stand, delivering bombshell testimony about how she allegedly had a “brief” sexual encounter with Trump in the “missionary position” and how he didn’t wear a condom, unlike the male porn actors she had worked with.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has taken every opportunity in front of media cameras at court and on Truth Social to rip the case as “election interference” and a politically motivated witch hunt.
Before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan gave the jury instructions on the law Wednesday morning, Trump — in a post on Truth Social — blasted the fact that prosecutors delivered five hours of closing arguments, while his lawyer only gave 3.5 hours of closings.
He also attacked the gag order that has been in place throughout trial barring him from speaking out about witnesses, jurors and court staff.
“THE D.A.’s OFFICE WAS ALLOWED TO GO ON WITH 5 HOURS OF BULL…. YESTERDAY. I have no rights against this Crooked Judge’s Gag Order!” his post read.
