President-elect Donald Trump’s legal team has alleged juror misconduct in an attempt to overturn his hush money conviction.
The lawyers claim to have evidence of grave juror misconduct during the trial, which they say tainted the historic verdict.
The big picture: Details of the allegations were redacted from public view in a letter to Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan.
- Manhattan prosecutors have dismissed the defense’s claims as “unsworn, unsupported” hearsay and part of a last-ditch effort to undermine public confidence in the case.
- Prosecutors argue that Trump’s lawyers were seeking to muddy the verdict by airing their claims in a letter to the judge rather than a formal motion to dismiss the case.
Driving the news: The defense requested Merchan to throw out the case due to Trump’s impending return to the White House. However, the prosecutors questioned the defense’s resistance to having a court hearing to examine the juror misconduct claims more thoroughly.
- Judge Merchan ordered reactions to preserve the case’s integrity and ensure the safety of jurors, whose names have been kept private. He emphasized that allegations of juror misconduct should be thoroughly investigated but cannot be decided based on mere hearsay and conjecture.
- Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his hush money conviction, which involved falsifying business records to conceal a payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. The legal battle includes efforts to leverage presidential immunity grounds, which were recently rejected by Judge Merchan.
