One of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers said Thursday that his client is ready to appeal as he was found guilty in his New York criminal trial on Thursday.
“If there were to be a conviction here, which we believe would be a gravely unjust verdict, we would speedily appeal to the New York Appellate division, potentially to the New York Court of Appeals as well. And we'll take that step if we get there,” Mr. Scharf told CNN’s Jake Tapper, coming before the jury reached a verdict later in the day.
The jury at around 5 p.m. on Thursday found the former president guilty of falsifying business records.
The Epoch Times contacted the Trump campaign for comment on Thursday.
So far, the former president has filed several appeals related to the case, including asking the New York Court of Appeals to move the venue from Manhattan and also rescind the presiding judge’s gag order that prohibits him from speaking about the jury, potential witnesses, court staff, or members of the judge’s family. His team also asked the court to remove New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, arguing that he is conflicted in the case.
The appeals court, however, struck down the former president’s multiple appeals.
The former president made his first comments Thursday since the jury began its second day of deliberations, adding that it is waste of money.
But President Trump struck a more pessimistic tone at times on Wednesday and Thursday by telling reporters that “Mother Teresa couldn’t beat these charges,” adding that “it’s all rigged.”
His comments came as jurors spent several hours on Thursday hearing Justice Merchan reread portions of his instructions that he gave on Wednesday. They also heard several portions of testimony that was given by witnesses earlier in the trial.
After that, the jury was sent back to resume its deliberations. It’s not clear when they will return a verdict in the case in which prosecutors have accused President Trump of falsifying business records in relation to payments made to an adult film performer during the 2016 election.
Claims of the Case
Prosecutors attempted to prove that President Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to the performer, Stormy Daniels, to purchase her silence about an alleged affair in 2006 that the former president has denied. They have claimed that he made the payments to interfere with the election and illegally masked them as legal expenses.President Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying there was nothing wrong with the payments. His attorneys, in their closing arguments, said that prosecutors’ star witness, former lawyer Michael Cohen, lied to the jury and even stole from the former president, meaning they should acquit President Trump.
The former president has to remain in the courthouse while the jury deliberates, Justice Merchan said earlier this week.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the justice also said that the jury cannot convict President Trump solely based on Mr. Cohen’s testimony, saying that he is “an accomplice” in the case. He also said that they cannot hold it against President Trump that he did not testify in the case, saying that he has the right not to testify.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said Tuesday during closing arguments that the prosecution’s case did not rest solely on Mr. Cohen.
“It’s not about whether you like Michael Cohen. It’s not about whether you want to go into business with Michael Cohen,” the prosecutor said. “It’s whether he has useful, reliable information to give you about what went down in this case, and the truth is that he was in the best position to know.”
In his own closing arguments to the jury, Trump attorney Todd Blanche castigated the case’s entire foundation.
“Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy to promote a candidate, a group of people who are working together to help somebody win,” he said.
