Last Update May 30, 2024 09:59am ET

Jury deliberations continue Thursday in former President Trump’s New York criminal trial, with the discussions entering their second day. Trump is still required to attend the trial despite the lack of proceedings. Judge Juan Merchan instructed jurors not to research or discuss the case overnight.

Covered by: Anders Hagstrom, Kyle Morris, Michael Leeand Emma Colton

Fast Facts:

•  The jury enters its second day of deliberations in former President Trump’s New York criminal trial on Thursday. 
•  There is no timeline for how long deliberations will last, but a verdict could come down as soon as Thursday afternoon 
•  Trump and his defense team are required to be present for the deliberations so that they can hear any potential notes from the jury 

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34 min(s) ago

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Donald Trump arrives to Manhattan courthouse for day 2 of jury deliberations

Former President Trump arrived to the Manhattan courthouse to attend the second day of jury deliberations in his New York criminal trial Thursday morning.

Judge Juan Merchan has required Trump and his legal team to attend the proceedings so they can hear any notes from the jury during their deliberations.

“Here we go again,” Trump told reporters outside the courtroom. “I haven’t seen a single legal scholar who thinks this case should have been brought.”

He then cited a series of sources who argued Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s case against him is “ridiculous.” The sources included Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, the Wall Street Journal as well as analysts from CNN and MSNBC.

The former president went on to tout an NPR poll showing him ahead of President Biden among independents.

“54 to 42. That’s among independents. That’s the best we’ve ever done, the poll says, among independents,” he said.

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

31 seconds ago

Judge Merchan re-reads jury instructions as jury notes roll in

Judge Juan Merchan delivered sections of the jury instructions to jurors once again on Thursday after a series of jury notes came through.

Jurors sought clarification on the extent to which they could make inferences based on witness testimony. The jurors cannot have a copy of the jury instructions inside their chambers, meaning they must send notes to Merchan requesting clarifications.

There is no timeline for the jury deliberations, and they are currently in their second day.

Former President Trump blasted the trial as “ridiculous” as he entered the courtroom this morning.

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

2 min(s) ago

Jury hears instructions again on second day of deliberations

REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Judge Juan Merchan welcomed jurors back to the courtroom Thursday and re-read their two notes from yesterday.

Merchan told the jury they have located the testimony that was requested Wednesday evening and are ready to re-read it.

Merchan gave jurors the “choice” of listening to the instructions via headphones or speaker.

Asked by Merchan whether the jurors wanted the instructions or the testimony first, the foreperson said, “The instructions.”

Merchan began re-reading the instructions. Instructions will be read from pages 6-35.

Posted by Kyle Morris Share

8 min(s) ago

Judge Merchan takes the bench

Judge Merchan retook the bench a little after 9:30 and greeted all the parties, including former President Donald Trump.

The judge determined all of the testimony that was requested Tuesday would come in, with the prosecution and defense arguing how much should be read from the transcript. Merchan has erred on the side of including more, granting a subsequent jury request for more testimony.

Fifty-five pages of instructions in total will also be read, about half of the original instructions.

Posted by Michael Lee Share

11 min(s) ago

Jonathan Turley inside the court: Good news for the prosecution

The jury is asking for instructions on count one and how to deal with evidence and the inference to be drawn from evidence. He will read pages 7-35.

The inference instructions are interesting. It is not the corroboration or perjury material that would have presumably focused on Cohen. However, the inference sections would go to how much that can read into the implications of testimony. Much of Cohen’s testimony did not concretely establish knowledge or intent by Trump but the prosecutors insisted that they could infer from that evidence.

The focus on the inferential instructions is good news in my view for the prosecutors in comparison to a question for the corroboration or false testimony sections. It may indicate that there was some uncertainty or division on how much of a negative inference can be drawn from these accounts in establishing intent and knowledge on the part of Trump.

Of course, this all makes tea leaf readings look like a precise science…

–Fox News contributor and GWU professor Jonathan Turley

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

16 min(s) ago

Jonathan Turley and Kerri Kupec inside the court: This jury policy is nuts

Trump is in the courtroom. Waiting for the judge. Will soon know if the jury wants a particular instruction or instructions read back. Frankly, it is nuts in my view that the jury is not given the instructions and must have them read back to them. It serves no positive or productive purpose. 

–Fox News contributor and GWU professor Jonathan Turley

Nuts.

–Fox News legal editor Kerri Kupec

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

43 min(s) ago

Who is Oliver Stone?

Filmmaker Oliver Stone said President Trump is facing “lawfare” as he faces trial in New York City over allegedly falsifying business records. 

Stone is an Oscar Award-winning film director behind movies such as “The Doors,” “Natural Born Killers,” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” He has historically held left-wing political views, including repeatedly condemning former President George W. Bush for his handling of 9/11, voting for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and President Biden in 2020. 

He also even compared Trump to “Beelzebub” in 2018, whiich is another name for the devil. 

Amid Trump’s trial, however, Stone argued that the 45th president is facing “lawfare” from his political opponents. Lawfare is a legal term for the use and politicization of the justice system to hurt a political opponent. 

“It’s a new form of warfare. It’s called lawfare,” Stone said earlier this month. “And that’s what they’re using against Trump.”

Last year, Stone said he “made a mistake” when he voted for Biden in 2020, arguing it appears he may not be “ in charge of his own administration.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the NY v. Trump case. Closing arguments are anticipated to kick off Tuesday, following Memorial Day, with jury deliberations beginning Wednesday.

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

1 hour(s) ago

Jonathan Turley inside the court: Is the jury throwing out Michael Cohen’s testimony?

The most telling moment today could come with the jury’s response to a question from the judge.  At the end of the day yesterday, Judge Merchan asked the jury to tell him if they want the entirety of the jury instructions to be read or just a part of the instructions. My reaction from the notes last night was that the most intriguing possibility is that the jury decided to address the elephant in the room: Michael Cohen. A juror may have raised if the entirety of his testimony should be disregarded since the judge said that, if Cohen lied on any material point, the entirety of his testimony could be disregarded. Some may have objected that they are not required to do so and that the judge said that they should look for corroboration. It is actually to different issues. Corroboration goes to the fact that Cohen must be treated as an accomplice and must be corroborated to be given weight. The perjury rule goes to that fact that lying to any part poisons every part of a witness’s testimony. If Cohen was the threshold issue, they would likely want to hear the instructions on false testimony and corroboration as well as the Trump Tower testimony which was cited as corroboration by the government. If Merchan comes back and identifies those areas of the instructions, it would seem likely that this could all be about Cohen.

—Fox News contributor and GWU Professor Jonathan Turley

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

1 hour(s) ago

Chuck Zito says Trump is a ‘trooper,’ nothing fazes him

Actor and former Hell’s Angel Chuck Zito told Fox News’ Jesse Watters that former President Donald Trump is a “trooper” and that nothing fazes him after attending his trial earlier this week.

“I would always support former President Trump but we know each other for 40 years,” Zito said.  “He’s the greatest president of my lifetime. I’ll tell you that…

“He’s doing it for the American people in America, not for himself. He wants to make this country great again,” Zito added. “But I’ll tell you, he’s a trooper, man. He’s…nothing fazes him.”

Zito shared that he had lunch with the former president during his trial earlier last week, and that the president lamented he was stuck attending the trial and not out campaigning.

“I thought I was a tough guy. This guy’s a savage, man,” Zito said of Trump.

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

1 hour(s) ago

Top Mueller prosecutor declares ‘man crush’ on judge overseeing NY v Trump trial

The former top prosecutor for the Mueller investigation, said on Wednesday that he deeply admires the judge overseeing former President Trump’s hush money trial in New York City. 

“As you noted with respect to Judge Merchan, I mean-I am like now, you know, I have like a ‘man crush’ on him,” MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said. “He is such a great judge that it’s hard to see that the jurors wouldn’t have the same impression.”

Weissman continued to lay praise on Judge Juan Merchan. 

“If you looked in a dictionary for judicial temperament, that’s what you would get, and just remember, he has had to put up with the defendant who committed 10 acts of contempt, he’s threatened not just him, but his family, and in spite of that, you would not know for a second that that is in any way weighing on him, because it is just such an impeccably fair trial,” he said. 

The jury went into deliberations on Wednesday after Merchan gave them instructions on the case. Trump is being charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Andrea Mitchell summarized on behalf of NBC News’ Laura Jarett, who was in the courtroom, that the judge has a very calm effect where he communicates “very calmly and slowly and deliberately,” even when chiding the defense or prosecution.

“Right. I really wish for that reason that at least there was an audio,” Weissmann said.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Alexander Hall

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

2 hour(s) ago

What could Elise Stefanik’s ethics complaint mean for Trump?

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanikfiled an ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan, alleging the judge overseeing former President Trump’s trial could have a conflict of interest when it comes to his daughter’s role at a firm that represents Democratic politicians. 

Merchan’s daughter serves as the president of Authentic Campaigns, while Stefanik noted in the complaint that the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct “privately cautioned him in July over his illegal political donations to Biden and Democrats in 2020.”

Stefanik further argued that Merchan should recuse himself from the trial, noting a “clear conflict of interest, based upon his adult daughter’s financial state in this unprecedented criminal trial, has badly damaged the court’s appearance of impartiality.”

“I request that you investigate his conduct and impose whatever discipline is required,” Stefanik said.

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

2 hour(s) ago

How long are jury deliberations expected to take?

The jury began deliberations in former President Trump’s New York criminal trial just before noon on Wednesday after a long day in court on Tuesday, when they heard closing arguments from the defense team and a lengthy one from the District Attorney’s Office.

Jurors could deliver a verdict as soon as Wednesday afternoon, or it could take several days of deliberation before a consensus is reached among the New Yorkers deciding on the case. 

Trump addressed the media Wednesday, vowing that he will win the 2024 race for the White House, while slamming the case as one “Mother Teresa could not beat.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

3 hour(s) ago

Supporters rally around Trump outside NYC courthouse: Biden ‘ain’t for’ Black America

Trump supporters, who gathered outside the New York City courtroom on Wednesday where the former president is facing criminal charges, rallied in support of him and sounded off on the “judicial lynching” they say he is facing with the trial.

“I love Trump and I love what he did for me and my people, Black people, he really helped us out,” a Black New Yorker wearing a Trump hat told Fox News Digital.  “What they doing right now is really ridiculous, these court cases and everything that they doing towards him…they trying to stop the momentum from winning the election.”

“It ain’t happening man, we f— with Trump, Black people we really with Trump.”

The man went on to dismiss the idea that the Biden administration is defending “Black America.”

“Biden ain’t for no Black America,” the man continued. “I lost everything since Biden been in, I had a whole limousine business, I had a whole car business selling cars, buying and selling cars, that all went down the drain when Biden got in. I had to go now sleep in the God d—  car. I don’t get a free hotel like immigrants get.”

“We gotta get them outta there,” the man, who identified himself as being from New York, said about politicians who say there is “no place for Trump in New York.” 

“They don’t do nothing for us, AOC don’t do nothing for us,” he added.

“This is a judicial lynching, he did nothing wrong,” a white man wearing a “Gays for Trump” shirt told Fox News Digital on Wednesday afternoon.  “He will be found innocent, even if he isn’t and he’s railroaded by the Democratic Marxist party, I will vote for him regardless of the outcome.”

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

3 hour(s) ago

Who is Trump prosecutor Joshua Steinglass?

Joshua Steinglass is the leading prosecutor who delivered the extensive closing argument in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial. In his nearly 5-hour closing statements, Steinglass said Trump’s intent to defraud “could not be any clearer,” arguing that it would have been far easier for him to pay Stormy Daniels directly.

Instead, the prosecutor said, he concocted an elaborate scheme and everything he and his cohorts did was “cloaked in lies.” 

“The name of the game was concealment and all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited the most: the defendant, former President Donald Trump,” Steinglass said.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Brooke Singman

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

3 hour(s) ago

Jury deliberations enter 2nd day in unprecedented NY v. Trump trial

A New York jury will continue deliberations for a second day Thursday in the historic and unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump. 

Judge Juan Merchan delivered jurors instructions to consider charges brought against the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee. 

Merchan on Wednesday afternoon instructed the jury not to discuss or research the case. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

Court resumes at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. 

During deliberations Wednesday, the jury sent two notes to the judge, including a request to hear his instructions again about how to consider evidence. 

The jury also asked to hear testimony again from former American Media, Inc. CEO David Pecker and ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen. 

Merchan said the court was still looking to locate the requested testimony. Merchan estimated it would take approximately 30 minutes to read back.