16% of respondents have been following trial closely
Closing arguments expected on Tuesday
Jury may return verdicts of guilty, not guilty, or hung jury
Manhattan jury deliberating Trump's falsified business records in hush money trial
Most Americans believe Trump is guilty or probably guilty in relation to falsifying business records related to hush money payment
Trump denies having sex with Stormy Daniels
Trump's lawyers maintain payments were legitimate legal expenses
Former President Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan is currently underway, with closing arguments expected to begin on Tuesday. The jury is deliberating potential verdicts, including guilty, not guilty, or hung jury. However, a recent poll revealed that only 16% of respondents have been following the trial closely. Some Americans expressed feelings of boredom or anger towards the case.
Despite this lack of interest from some sectors of the population, House Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Manhattan to show support for Trump and dismissed the trial as a 'sham.' However, polling data suggests that most Americans believe Trump is guilty or probably guilty in relation to falsifying business records related to the hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels.
Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis expressed concern about the impartiality of the jury due to its Manhattan location, where 85% of residents rejected Trump. Andy Levy advised Trump against committing crimes in Manhattan if he didn't want to face a potential trial there.
The trial stems from charges that Trump falsified business records by falsely logging payments to Michael Cohen as legal fees when they were actually reimbursements for the hush money payment. Prosecutors argue that Trump made these payments in an attempt to protect his 2016 campaign by burying allegations of extramarital sex.
Trump's lawyers maintain that the payments were legitimate legal expenses, and Trump denies having sex with Daniels. Cohen pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff in 2018 and indicated that Trump directed him to arrange it.
Judge Juan Merchan rejected the defense’s request that prosecutors be sanctioned for a last-minute document dump that caused former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial to start later than scheduled.
The documents were from a previous federal investigation into the matter.
Merchan agreed to delay the start of the trial from March 25 to April 15 to allow the former president’s lawyers to review the material.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records by falsely logging payments to Cohen, then his personal lawyer, as legal fees in his company’s books when they were reimbursements for an alleged $130,000 hush money payment he made to Daniels.
Manhattan prosecutors say Trump did it as part of an effort to protect his 2016 campaign by burying what he says were false stories of extramarital sex.
Trump’s lawyers say the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not cover-up checks. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff. He said Trump directed him to arrange it, and federal prosecutors indicated they believed him, but Trump was never charged.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis expressed concern about the impartiality of the jury in Trump’s hush money trial due to its Manhattan location, where 85% of residents rejected Trump.
Andy Levy advised Donald Trump against committing crimes in Manhattan if he didn’t want to face a potential trial there.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Bias
(80%)
The author expresses a clear bias against Trump and his supporters by implying that they are preparing to claim the trial was rigged if he is found guilty. The author also quotes Malliotakis expressing her concern about the impartiality of the jury due to their location in Manhattan, which could be seen as an attempt to discredit the jury before a verdict has been reached.
I do have concern with the jury simply because this is Manhattan where 85 percent rejected President Trump. These are people that did not like President Trump.
Let’s say there’s a hung jury in this trial, it’s going to be ‘Oh, it was a fair trial’ but if he’s found guilty they will say ‘we all know it was rigged.’
Republicans won’t accept the verdict as legitimate if he’s found guilty, and are set to claim that the trial was rigged.
House Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Manhattan Criminal Courthouse to show support for Donald Trump
Mike Johnson dismissed the trial as a ‘sham’
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an appeal to authority and a dichotomous depiction. It also assumes the reader is familiar with recent polls on public opinion regarding Trump's trial.
. . .the evidence pointing in the opposite direction.
This apparently brings the former president and his allies a degree of comfort.
Bias
(95%)
The author dismisses the trial as a 'sham' and claims 'everybody in the country' agrees with Trump, despite evidence to the contrary from multiple polls showing a majority of Americans believe Trump is guilty of a crime in this case.
Fifty-six percent – a majority – say Trump is definitely or probably guilty of a crime in this case.
The more Trump’s legal crises have intensified, the more common this refrain in Republican circles: It’s not just GOP partisans who are siding with Trump and rejecting the criminal allegations, it’s ‘everybody in the country’ reaching the same conclusion.
