Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money case in New York enters its second day of jury deliberations on Thursday with panelists weighing whether a payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels was part of a plot to sway the 2016 election.
The jurors deliberated for approximately four and a half hours on Wednesday after beginning their discussions at about 11.30am.
Outside of the courtroom on Wednesday, Trump ranted about the proceedings and likened himself to a saint, claiming in the hallway: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. The charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged.”
Judge Juan Merchan had instructed jurors for about an hour before they started to deliberate. His instructions on the law were were meant to inform jurors about how they are supposed to consider the 34 business falsification counts Trump faces.
In the afternoon, the jury sent two notes to the court. One missive was a request to hear some trial testimony from two key witnesses. The second message was a request to re-hear Merchan’s instructions to them.
After receiving more information from jurors about which instructions they wanted re-read this morning, Merchan went through the requested directives: they wanted guidance about how to interpret evidence and draw inferences from facts.
The jurors seemed attentive during Merchan’s re-reading. Some scribbled on notepads. Others eyed Merchan intently as he read through the instructions. One sometimes handled a pen in a way that seemingly hearkened back to the purpose of a fidget spinner; using the writing implement as passive physical activity while paying attention to Merchan and jotting notes.
Trump – the first US president, present or former, to face a criminal trial – is charged with falsifying business records over his former fixer Michael Cohen paying Daniels $130,000 shortly before the election. Prosecutors contend that Cohen did so at Trump’s behest to cover up her account of an alleged extramarital sexual affair, to protect his chances in the race.
They claim that Trump, Cohen and the tabloid mogul David Pecker convened at Trump Tower in summer 2015, where they formed a plot to keep unfavorable information under wraps. The Daniels payoff, which came later, was in keeping with that plan.
The trial testimony that jurors requested included Pecker’s testimony about a phone call with Trump, his comments on his handling of the life rights of one woman who alleged an affair with Trump, testimony regarding the Trump Tower meeting and Cohen’s testimony on said get-together.
This testimony was read back to jurors. In total, this reading took slightly less than 90 minutes.
Pecker had testified at trial that he had a phone call with Trump where he had apprised him that the Playboy model Karen McDougal had a story about an alleged extramarital sexual relationship with Trump. The then candidate, Pecker told jurors, said “Karen is a nice girl” and then asked if he should buy her story.
With the Trump Tower meeting, Pecker had told jurors: “I said what I would do is I would run or publish positive stories about Mr Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents, and I said that I would also be the eyes and ears.”
Cohen had told jurors about the Trump Tower meeting as well, and corroborated Pecker’s narrative. Trump’s ex-lawyer recalled Pecker saying that he would: “Keep an eye out for anything negative about Mr Trump and that he would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out and try to stop it from coming out.”
In addition to this trial, Trump also faces three more criminal cases: one proceeding for trying to sway the 2020 election in Georgia, another for his behavior around the January 6 Capitol insurrection, and a third one related to his treatment of sensitive documents after he left the White House. These other three cases have been delayed and they are unlikely to wrap before November’s election.
