Former US President Donald Trump has decried the charges against him in the Manhattan hush-money trial as of the kind that even Mother Teresa would not beat. Trump made the comment while speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the jury started deliberating the verdict.
The ex-president and presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 election faces a litany of accusations in several separate cases. The proceedings, which concluded on Tuesday, revolved around hush money that the ex-president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, claims to have paid in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an affair with the then-candidate.
Speaking with the press after his fate was handed over to the 12 New Yorkers constituting the jury, Trump reiterated his claims that the trial was politically motivated and meant to disrupt his bid to retake the White House.
“Mother Teresa could not beat those charges, but we’ll see,” he fumed. “We’ll see how we do. It’s a very disgraceful situation.”
He criticized judge Juan Merchan for supposedly being “conflicted and corrupt,” placing a gag order on him and allegedly barring some of the people that Trump’s defense wanted to testify from doing so.
The judge significantly limited what election law expert Brad Smith, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, could talk about during the trial. Merchan said he wanted to avoid a “battle of the experts” in the courtroom.
Trump claimed that “the whole thing is rigged” and amounts to weaponization of the justice system by the Democratic Party against its political opponent. The trial has kept him from campaigning, he complained.
“This is all because of Joe Biden,” he claimed, pointing the finger at the incumbent president. “It’s the people that surround him in the office. They’re smart. They’re fascists, they’re communist, but they’re smart.”
Jurors in the Manhattan trial are considering 34 counts brought against Trump. He is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse the hush payment with campaign funds. The judge on Wednesday instructed jurors on how to apply the evidence that was presented to them to determine Trump’s innocence or guilt.
The jury may produce a verdict as soon as Thursday but deliberations could drag on beyond this week, according to US media reports.