A panel of seven swing-state voters largely said they did not know what crime a jury convicted former President Trump of and that the prosecution against him was political.
A Manhattan jury on Thursday convicted Trump in the case brought by Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. The North Carolina and Georgia registered voters told 2WAY’s Mark Halperin they could not specify the crime and that the timing of the prosecution was political, given the upcoming presidential election. (RELATED: Stormy Daniels’ Admission On Witness Stand Sheds Light On Why Alvin Bragg Had Her Testify Against Trump)
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Halperin asked the voters to explain what Trump was convicted of, starting with a North Carolina voter named Jesse.
“I’m not 100% sure, but I think he was convicted of some stuff going on with hush money going to someone he slept with, Stormy Daniels,” Jesse told Halperin, with the host asking what the crime is.
“Not telling the truth about money and election interference,” Jesse answered.
“Sending money to hush people up is what I think it is,” a Georgia voter named Dennise chimed in.
The charges originated from $420,000 Trump paid his former attorney Michael Cohen over 12 months in 2017 for “legal services,” which prosecutors claimed was actually to reimburse Cohen for $130,000 he paid to secure a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election and keep her silent regarding claims of an affair with the former president. In order to indict Trump on felony charges and circumvent the expired statute of limitations, Bragg argued the records were falsified to hide or commit an additional crime, which remained uncertain throughout the trial, but was assumed to be either a campaign finance or election law violation.
“I think it’s legal though, right? To pay to protect an NDA, right, Dennise?” a Georgia voter named Greg asked, to which the fellow Georgia voter answered affirmatively.
“I thought it was that it was campaign funds, so I don’t know much about it, but I thought the problem was that he used campaign funds to pay off Stormy Daniels,” a Georgia voter named Gerrylin said, which Greg said was inaccurate.
“I think it’s the opposite though,” he said. “I think he used non-campaign funds, and the crime was that he should have used campaign funds, or at least that’s what they’re claiming. Because it was used to improve his image on the campaign, and so by not classifying them as campaign funds, then that’s what the crime is.”
Prosecutors suggested Trump violated a state election law that makes it a misdemeanor for any two or more people to “conspire” to influence an election using “unlawful means.”
“It was more about the classification of the funds that he instructed his lawyer to do the payout, but the labeling of that … was labeled as legal expenses and not as a payoff or a payment to her,” a Georgia voter named Carrie said. Halperin asked Carrie what the crime is and what it is called.
“Uh, I’m actually not sure, no,” she answered. “I guess it would be … yeah, I don’t know.”
Halperin posed the same question to a North Carolina voter named Micah.
“I’d say misallocation of campaign funds, but I don’t know the legal term,” Micah answered.
WATCH NOW: New focus group of GA & NC voters who don’t like Biden or Trump. A lot of nuance in their views.
They agree Trump was treated fairly in his trial, but most of them think the timing of the trial was driven by politics.https://t.co/rxGk2LWtJq— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) June 4, 2024
Halperin then asked the panel whether Bragg’s choice to “indict and prosecute President Trump was motivated by politics,” with four out of seven voters raising their hands. The host then asked if the voters thought the “timing” of Bragg’s prosecution was political and all seven voters raised their hands.
“I just feel like, not even just this case but in all the cases against him, it seems like it’s been four years,” Gerrylin said. “Why has nothing really come of any of the cases, and now that he’s on the campaign trail, it’s like now everything is ramping up? But what was going on the last three and a half years, where now everything is just surfacing and he’s just now going to trial?”
A North Carolina voter named Paul mentioned that the charges against Trump stem from events that occurred nearly a decade ago and mentioned the statute of limitations.
Micah said the prosecution seemed “aimed to disrupt” Trump’s campaign and influence media coverage.
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