Donald Trump’s lawyers are demanding that Judge Juan Merchan toss the 34 counts of falsifying business records the president-elect was convicted of in May because they allege the verdict was tainted by “grave juror misconduct during the trial.”
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“The jury in this case was not anywhere near fair and impartial,” they alleged.
Details of the exact nature of the misconduct were redacted from the lawyers’ letter, which was dated Dec. 3, but added to the public court docket Tuesday. However, some information is known:
Prosecutors said the claim by Trump’s attorneys stemmed from email exchanges between the defense and an unnamed whistleblower.
The full exchanges were not attached to the letter, they said, but excerpts apparently showed the whistleblower saying the defense’s version of events “contains inaccuracies and does not contain additional information that I never shared.” The person declined to endorse the defense’s version and ceased communication with Trump’s counsel, prosecutors said.
Here’s what’s known about the jury misconduct claim in People v Trump:
On 12/3 Trump attys wrote prosecutors alleging “grave juror misconduct” showing that “this case was not anywhere near fair & impartial.” Heavily redacted 7-page letter here: https://t.co/0Vkug9iuSW
…
1/8 pic.twitter.com/NmpBCoYL7u— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) December 18, 2024
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The Trump Team said that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution has been a witch hunt since Day 1:
“Partisan political motivations infected nearly every aspect of this Witch Hunt, including the jury room,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
He accused Bragg and Merchan of allowing “their own personal political biases to fuel this charade” and said “they should be ashamed of their inaction in refusing to investigate this serious matter, and allowing the grievous misconduct to occur.”
On Monday, Merchan denied Trump’s request to have the verdict set aside due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
BREAKING: Judge Merchan Rules on Trump’s Bid to Have Case Dismissed Due to Presidential Immunity
Trump Responds to Judge Merchan’s Ruling on Immunity Issue – and Pulls No Punches
Merchan is still considering a separate defense request to throw out the case because Trump is now president-elect.
Newly unsealed: Donald Trump’s letter to Judge Merchan, claiming “grave juror misconduct” occurred during his hush money case.
What did this juror supposedly do? No one knows. Every detail about the “misconduct” has been redacted, per orders from Merchan. pic.twitter.com/5tcS8W3CKg
— Erik Uebelacker (@Uebey) December 17, 2024
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Prosecutors argued that the new allegations are “unsworn, unsupported” hearsay.
In their written responses, Manhattan prosecutors argued that Trump’s lawyers were trying to muddy the verdict by airing their claims in a letter to the judge rather than a formal motion to dismiss the case. Prosecutors also questioned the defense’s resistance to having Merchan hold a court hearing where their juror misconduct claims could be examined more thoroughly.
This is just the latest twist in the ongoing saga of Democrat lawfare against the president-elect. RedState will keep you updated as developments arise.
