Trump's own lawyer dispelled myth that N.Y. trial is 'rigged': analyst

Donald Trump continues to claim that his so-called "hush money" trial is "rigged," but even his former lawyers disagree.

One of the major claims coming out of the Republican Party and Fox networks is the allegation that "The jury doesn’t need to be unanimous," Aaron Blake saidin the Washington Post.

The fact-check explained that Trump doesn't have to be found guilty on all 34 counts to be considered guilty. Trump is charged with falsifying business records, which is typically a misdemeanor. That crime becomes a felony if another crime escalates it or if there is an intention to commit another crime.

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There are three of those possibilities, and the jurors only have to agree on one to escalate the crime to a felony, Blake said.

The topic was discussed with Trump's lawyer Emil Bove last week, when Judge Juan Merchan asked, “Do you agree that’s not ordinarily required?"

“Certainly,” Bove responded.

Bove claimed Judge Merchan should exercise his own "discretion and require unanimity," the report said. While Bove claimed Trump was an “extraordinarily important case," the judge agreed that he should be treated like every other defendant on trial.

Blake specifically attacked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Republican and admitted puppy shooter, who claimed the move was illegal. However, the non-lawyer cited a Supreme Court case that had nothing to do with the matter at hand.

"The Supreme Court previously recognized, in Schad v. Arizona, the 'long-established rule that a jury need not agree on which overt act, among several, was the means by which a crime was committed,'" quoted Blake.

Fox pundits, like Katie Cherkasky, also claim that the judge is withholding jury instructions. The jury asked on Wednesday that the judge reread the instructions. As it turns out, New York law doesn't give a hard copy of the jury instructions because it isn't "explicitly authorized by law." It has been long debated and argued that it should be allowed, but it has never been changed.

“In New York the default position is not to provide written instructions to the jury. The thinking behind that policy is not to have jurors be so focused on the court’s written legal instructions that it distracts them from the evidence and testimony," Fordham University law school professor Cheryl Bader told Blake.

Among the rants Trump delivered outside the courtroom Wednesday was that he was prevented from calling all the witnesses he wanted, including one expert witness, named Brad Smith. In fact, the judge approved the testimony from Smith, but he couldn't give his own interpretation of campaign finance laws. Witnesses are required to deliver facts only.

There have been questions from the left about why Trump didn't call Allen Weisselberg if he sought allies to dispute Michael Cohen. Weisselberg is in prison after committing perjury. Blake explained that it's a reason the prosecutors didn't call Weisselberg, but Trump could have and didn't either.

Read the full report by clicking here.

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