Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy accused the judge overseeing the hush money trial against former President Donald Trump of “colluding with prosecutors.”
New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan instructed the jury on how to interpret the law as they deliberate the case brought forward by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, telling jurors they do not need to agree on the “unlawful” means prosecutors allege Trump used to influence the 2016 election. Trump responded to the judge’s instructions by saying Mother Teresa “could not beat these charges,” indicating he is prepared for a guilty verdict.
“But to my mind, it’s not the charges that she’d [Mother Teresa] would have a hard time with, it’s the proceeding in which the judge is kind of colluding with the prosecutors and I don’t say that lightly because it’s a heavy-duty allegation to make about a judge,” McCarthy said. “But look, everybody in America who knows anything about the criminal law, including the judge himself, knows that Michael Cohen’s guilty pleas to campaign finance crimes are not admissible against President Trump, they’re just not … and Judge Merchan allowed the prosecutors to bring that to the jury’s attention over and over and over again, to the point where I think the jury thinks they don’t have to worry about that being proved because it’s an established fact in the case.”
McCarthy said earlier Wednesday that the judge’s instructions are the “antithesis of standard” as it is not normal for a jury to disagree on what crime is committed. (RELATED: ‘A Surprise’: Ex-Judge Tells MSNBC It’s Unusual Merchan Pointed Trump Jury To ‘Specific’ Evidence In Instructions)
“It’s the antithesis of standard,” McCarthy said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “The idea that they do not have to agree on what the other crime is. We spent six weeks wondering what is the other crime and at the end the thud we all get hit with, there’s three or four of ’em and you could pick one or the other and they don’t have to agree on it.”
Trump is being charged with 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed the two had an extramarital affair. Trump has repeatedly denied the affair allegations and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
It is alleged that Trump conspired to cover up the payment through the reimbursement plan to his former attorney Michael Cohen, who made out the hush money payment to Daniels. Cohen admitted to stealing $60,000 from the Trump Organization by lying to the former chief financial officer about needing $50,000 in reimbursement to pay tech company RedFinch, but only paid the company $20,000 and kept the remaining $30,000. The “grossed up” payment led him to make $60,000.
Merchan instructed the jurors they could consider three crimes as the “unlawful” means: Either a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), the falsification of other business records or violations of tax fraud.
Prosecutors allege the hush money payment was part of a broader “conspiracy” to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
