(🧵) America is on edge; jury deliberations in Trump’s trial on 34 felonies are underway, and we can’t know how long they’ll take. Please RETWEET this thread by a NYT-bestselling Trump biographer, former federal criminal investigator and criminal defense lawyer on what to expect. 
1/ First, understand that jury deliberations are the Great Big Black Box of our criminal justice system—and are intended to be.
Anyone who claims to know precisely what is going on in that room is misleading you; our system demands that jury deliberations be extremely secretive.
Anyone who claims to know precisely what is going on in that room is misleading you; our system demands that jury deliberations be extremely secretive.
2/ This said, after a case is over, jurors can speak to the media, and sometimes do. And far more importantly, State and defense investigators can try to interview jurors to find out more about how the deliberations in a given case played out. But that is unlikely to happen here.
3/ These jurors are anonymous for their own protection, and are likely to want to stay anonymous forever—again, for their own protection. It’d be surprising if they gave media interviews. Most will probably not want to talk to investigators afterward, either, fearing publicity.
4/ But we can learn a *little* bit about the likely events in the room through the few pieces of information that escape it—and the few pieces of information we had about the jury as they entered it. Most notably, the questions that they ask the court while they are deliberating.
5/ But before I get to that, I want to address some of the more controversial aspects of this case’s deliberations process.
First, understand that the defendant in this case was accused of trying to tamper with the jury before and during the case, and almost certainly did do so.
First, understand that the defendant in this case was accused of trying to tamper with the jury before and during the case, and almost certainly did do so.
6/ During the jury selection process, Trump scowled at prospective jurors he didn’t like, which undoubtedly intimidated them given that he was once—and may be again—the most powerful man on Earth after his heroes Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, and promises to destroy his enemies.
7/ One juror dropped out of the selection process out of fear; another dropped out post-selection because of fear. It’s hard to imagine what Trump did in the courtroom—and things he said outside it, which may have caused jurors’ families to express concern to them—played no role.
8/ Obviously irresponsible major-media coverage of the jury early on—which appears to have resulted in at least one prospective juror getting doxxed—didn’t help. But Trump—not just who he is but how he acted—was also clearly a contributing factor in how jurors felt about serving.
9/ Keep in mind as well that Trump’s most unscrupulous allies online were actively recruiting New Yorkers called for jury duty in Manhattan to go in, lie to the court about not having biases, and then vote to acquit Trump no matter what the evidence in the case happened to be.
10/ It’s easy for us to forget the pre-Trump era, when you would expect a former president and/or current presidential candidate—Trump is both—not only to not try to intimidate jurors but also to vocally and consistently urge his supporters to respect the court and its processes.
11/ Obviously that didn’t happen here. The opposite happened. Not that it was surprising—Trump has a long, well-documented (by federal reports) history of Obstruction of Justice, Witness Tampering, Perjury and Witness Intimidation. The jury even heard evidence of it in this case.
12/ Trump has no interest in rule of law or legal process—I say this as a Trump biographer—only winning at whatever cost (the ends justify the means—though of course the only ends he’s interested in are those that serve his interests). So if witnesses/jurors can be swayed, do it.
13/ Trump’s view is that if swaying witnesses or jurors can be done secretly through third parties, it is fair game. If that swaying involves incentives, fine; if it involves threats, fine. Trump has a history of using both, usually through fixers or attorneys, to win his cases.
14/ This case was an unusual one, however, because of the amount of press coverage of it. Trump’s other cases—perhaps only the civil cases involving E. Jean Carroll excepted—have gotten much less coverage (remember that Trump has been in and out of courts his entire adult life).
15/ So it was harder for Trump to do here what he otherwise would have done. He had already tried to tamper with Stormy Daniels, and failed; he had already tried to tamper with Michael Cohen, and failed; David Pecker was under an immunity agreement he had to honor to evade jail.
16/ Other witnesses in the case were Trump sycophants so bedazzled by him they were unlikely to hurt him significantly in testimony; for instance, Hope Hicks, Madeleine Westerhout, and Rhona Graff could all be put in this category from among the many State witnesses in this case.
17/ Yet even with these witnesses, Trump couldn’t keep himself from tampering—hoping to do so in plain view and so escape attention. (If you understand media theory, you know sometimes doing something brazenly gets—on average, in total—less attention than doing it clandestinely.)
18/ So it was that Trump tried to shake Rhona Graff’s hand before she testified, something I’ve never before seen or even heard of a defendant trying to do in a criminal case. But it happened here. (Graff rebuffed the attempted tampering, instantly knowing it to be unacceptable).
19/ So it was that Mr. Trump issued a public statement in violation of his gag order talking about how “nice” David Pecker was being on the stand, which both prosecutors and Judge Merchan understood—correctly—as an attempt to influence Pecker’s testimony in a pro-Trump direction.
20/ Because Trump is very clear—and public—about promising to destroy his enemies (his favorite tactic is to say that when he’s in a position to orchestrate it they will be charged with Treason and executed), saying Pecker was being “nice” on the stand was an unmistakable signal.
21/ As Pecker knows a lot about Trump that Trump suspected Pecker wouldn’t be asked about—I wrote a NYT-bestselling book on just this in 2019 (Proof of Conspiracy, Macmillan)—Trump was signaling to Pecker that if he testified only to the minimum, he’d stay off Trump’s enemy list.
22/ As it turned out, Pecker indeed testified only to facts he couldn’t possibly avoid, and like many other witnesses who are afraid of Trump or hope to work with him again in the future—Hicks being a good example—went out of his way to make Trump sound more honorable than he is.
23/ As for Stormy Daniels, Trump was caught cursing audibly during her testimony—getting a significant reprimand from the judge.
He’s already done all he can to try to put Michael Cohen in mortal danger—he began doing so years ago—so there wasn’t much more he could do as to him.
He’s already done all he can to try to put Michael Cohen in mortal danger—he began doing so years ago—so there wasn’t much more he could do as to him.
24/ Two of the most important witnesses Trump may have tampered with were ones the State never called but would’ve wanted to—and would have, had Trump not been paying them off. Allen Weisselberg might’ve been a critical witness for the State, but he went to jail twice for Trump.
25/ Specifically Weisselberg went to jail twice for Trump by lying to protect him. Trump compensated him by offering him a massive—multimillion-dollar—retirement package that would evaporate if Weisselberg ever said anything negative about Trump, including testifying against him.
26/ Keith Schiller, former Trump bodyguard, is another witness the State would’ve loved to have. But as with Weisselberg, they were afraid he’d lie for Trump as he has before. When Trump took over the Republican Party, he orchestrated massive post-employment payouts to Schiller.
27/ Specifically, the RNC hired Schiller to do consulting work for it for which he was fabulously paid but whose duties remained... uh, opaque.
It certainly seemed to observers like an open payoff for Schiller’s dubious Trump-Russia testimony and his silence after his job ended.
It certainly seemed to observers like an open payoff for Schiller’s dubious Trump-Russia testimony and his silence after his job ended.
28/ Most commonly, Trump uses NDAs to shut people up—NDAs that have since been found to be illegal when challenged in court. These weapons often threaten to ruin their holders permanently (financially) if they breathe a word about Trump—and some even falsely imply jail sentences.
29/ The most recent infamous NDA was revealed today—as it ran out, leading a former NBC producer to confirm that Trump publicly uses the N-word to describe Black Americans, publicly teases his countless infidelities, and sexually harasses female employees. slate.com/culture/2024/0…
30/ This is the tip of the iceberg. I can say as someone who’s both a Trump biographer and criminal justice professional that I’ve never seen in my career—or even heard tell of in my career—a single defendant who’s obstructed justice and witness-tampered more without consequence.
31/ Donald Trump has witness-tampered through social media posts and public pressers, through fixers and attorneys, through threats of litigation and even implications of violence, through threats of political and professional retaliation up to and including (as noted) execution.
32/ It always works—and he never gets in trouble for it. Peter Navarro went to prison rather than revealing his dealings with Trump, and expects a pardon and job in a second Trump administration. Steve Bannon will do the same thing for the same reasons. Paul Manafort already did.
33/ Some stay quiet of their own accord, for financial reasons—like Mark Burnett, who cares only about profit, not the monster he unleashed on us all.
Others stay quiet for a different sort of profit—political profit—which is why Jim Jordan brazenly ignored his federal subpoena.
Others stay quiet for a different sort of profit—political profit—which is why Jim Jordan brazenly ignored his federal subpoena.
34/ Trump paid off the late Ivana Trump to keep her from repeating Rape allegations against him. He threatens with financial ruin contractors who make noise about his serial Theft By Deception—a crime involving signing contracts you don’t plan to honor once you get your services.
35/ Trump does these things because he’s a career criminal and a louse—no public figure in American history, to my knowledge, has ever made such daily use of NDAs, threats and criminal obstruction/tampering to hide from the world that he’s one of the most vile operators on Earth.
36/ So you have to ask yourself: is there any reason to suspect that prospective and even *seated* jurors aren’t aware of all this? They know he incited an armed rebellion in 2021 that resulted in deaths; they know people have killed in Trump’s name; they know he’s a cult leader.
37/ They know he sues people into financial oblivion. They know he has his lawyer’s lawyer (Robert Costello, the Rudy Giuliani attorney who tried to work Michael Cohen on Trump’s behalf, namely to hide serious Trump crimes) and people of similar low cunning do his work for him.
38/ They heard firsthand about a threat against Daniels’ life—and the life of her child—that sure sounds like it came from inside Trumpworld. And they watched the man who tried to work Cohen (Costello) try to intimidate Judge Merchan *so creepily* the courtroom had to be cleared.
39/ This thread will run 200+ tweets, so this is just a brief break to note that while this thread and its expertise are free, if you’d like to tip the author for his work, you can do so, in any amount, at Venmo ([@]SethAbramsonTwitter) or the link below: sethabramson.net/pp
40/ And the jurors heard Trump cursing audibly at witnesses—which in my experience almost never happens except with the most unhinged defendants. And they saw Trump’s mid-examination body language, a course of scowling and grimacing so bizarre that the judge had to admonish him.
41/ All this was intended to intimidate people Trump does not respect and would happily see dead—he literally tried to incite a mob to storm the courthouse multiple times during the trial—in part because he knows they (average citizens) decide his fate, not the judge in the case.
42/ It’s much easier to stoke domestic terrorism—in the form of threats or worse—against a Black prosecutor allegedly backed by a Jewish foreigner, or a South American-born judge with a daughter who works as a political consultant—than these 12 jurors. You can probably see why.
43/ If jail-time is in the offering, Trump would like to see his MAGA cultists interfere in this proceeding the same way he gleefully reveled at seeing them do so on January 6 (to the point that he had no reaction to Ashli Babbitt’s death; he just expects people to die for him).
44/ If jail-time is not likely, Trump still needs to discredit this trial on 34 felonies as a plot—not a routine law-enforcement response to him committing 34 felonies. So he needs the enemy here to be Biden, Jews, Black people, Latinos, and women. Because MAGAs respond to that.
45/ The reality is that average citizens—some of whom may even be GOP voters—will responsibly do their duty as citizens and decide if Trump committed 34 felonies. But again, that’s not the story Trump wants to sell, so the jury is an obstacle to his designs in more ways than one.
46/ Which is why Trump’s most astounding act of both witness and jury tampering—demanding that public figures, celebrities and nationally recognizable politicians from across America come to his trial and sit literally in his corner—wasn’t just audacious but incredibly effective.
47/ The message was most certainly not missed by the jurors: this is a powerful man; he is very angry; he is trying to decide who his enemies are in this room and who he must destroy if he is convicted; he is showing us just how many powerful allies he has to destroy us and ours.
48/ It’s no wonder people dropped off this jury out of fear.
But for all that, Trump decided the the jurors still weren’t scared enough, so in closing arguments he seems to have had his lawyer Todd Blanche do something no seasoned trial attorney—and Blanche is one—would ever do.
But for all that, Trump decided the the jurors still weren’t scared enough, so in closing arguments he seems to have had his lawyer Todd Blanche do something no seasoned trial attorney—and Blanche is one—would ever do.
49/ What Mr. Blanche did was so inappropriate that he was admonished by the judge—and it appears to me that Judge Merchan was even considering referring Blanche for bar discipline. But to understand what Blanche did and why, you need to understand a bit more about trial practice.
50/ First, you are never—ever—allowed, as a trial advocate, to talk about the possible punishment in a case. Jurors aren’t supposed to know this information, as that’s not how they’re supposed to make their decision.
They are charged with making a decision on facts, not emotion.
They are charged with making a decision on facts, not emotion.
51/ The reason our system works this way is that judges decide sentences, not juries, and whereas the work of a jury—finding someone guilty or not guilty (getting found innocent isn’t a thing; at best, jurors find that the State did not meet its burden of proof)—is about facts...
52/ ...whereas determining the appropriate punishment in a criminal case is a legal matter—as it depends on statutory interpretation, consideration of prior record, a pre-sentencing investigation, analysis of mitigating and aggravating factors that are legally defined, and more.
53/ So the reason a lawyer mentioning possible sentences to a jury is obscene—to the point it could cause an instant mistrial (which may be what Blanche wanted)—is because it urges jurors to make a legal determination based on emotion, not a factual determination based on logic.
54/ It usurps the role of the judge; it miscasts the role of a jury; it aims to enflame jurors—by making them sad, angry or confused about the sentence the defendant might face, which may not mirror the seriousness of the allegation—in a way that poisons the trial. It’s very bad.
55/ Another thing a lawyer can’t do, and obviously this is an even clearer no-no, is threaten jurors in a high-profile case—a case with a high-profile defendant with high-profile allies in the courtroom and a high-profile penchant for vengeance—with future regret if they convict.
56/ And Todd Blanche—Trump’s lawyer and a former prosecutor—knows all of this. He would undoubtedly object (and maybe ask for a mistrial) instantly if either of those two things happened during a closing argument. Which is why Judge Merchan was livid when Blanche did both things.
57/ Specifically, Trump attorney Todd Blanche said to the jury, during his closing argument, despite certainly knowing it was impermissible at the highest level of trial practice, “You cannot send somebody to prison, you cannot convict somebody...” washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/…
58/ Obviously Trump supporters love to complain about the justice system but know nothing about it, so they bought into the Trump claim that Blanche being admonished for what he said was a sign of bias. The truth? I’ll let friend-of-the-feed Eliza explain: tiktok.com/@elizaorlins/v…
59/ But also important is the general tenor of this portion of Trump’s closing argument, which journalists in the room said involved Blanche repeatedly telling jurors to “think twice”—as the journalists reported it—before convicting Trump, which combined with mentioning prison...
60/ ...turned the larger presentation into a threat: think twice before sending *this particular man* to prison because all hell will break lose in America if you do (with the implication being that no one would be able to ensure the jurors’ future safety if that were to happen).
61/ If you doubt that within MAGAworld this is the fevered pitch that things are sitting at right now, consider this public statement from one of Trump’s chief public advocates on social media, radical pro-Trump political partisan and Newsmax host Todd Starnes:
62/ Trump supporters are being conned into thinking Trump is about to be incarcerated—something I have discussed, in prior threads, as highly unlikely (see the PROOF link below)—and what Blanche did here is an outgrowth of that dangerous MAGA frenzy.
🔗: sethabramson.substack.com/p/the-trump-tr…
🔗: sethabramson.substack.com/p/the-trump-tr…
63/ So the reasons for jurors to feel intimidated as they deliberate are many indeed, and all of them have been carefully orchestrated by Trump, his legal team, his courthouse proxies, his online-agitator allies, and members of far-right media.
MAGA wants these jurors terrified.
MAGA wants these jurors terrified.
64/ This thread will run 200+ tweets, so this is just a brief break to note that while this thread and its expertise are free, if you’d like to tip the author for his work, you can do so, in any amount, at Venmo ([@]SethAbramsonTwitter) or the link below: sethabramson.net/pp
65/ With all this said, let’s return to what we do—and do not—know about juries and how they operate, and specifically what we do and do not know about this particular Manhattan jury and how it is likely to be deliberating in this particular criminal case involving Donald Trump.
66/ One of the only maxims any trial attorney accepts as true (and remember that most attorneys are not trial attorneys, so we are speaking of a specialized group here that the author of this thread happens to belong to; most trial attorneys admit juries are a mystery) is this:
67/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Jury Verdict in Trump Trial Is In
68/ I was going to say that a very quick jury verdict is usually—but not always!—a conviction. That is less true, of course, if the trial is a very short one (as this one was not). That is because we expect longer deliberations in longer trials, and shorter ones in shorter ones.
69/ The Trump team, in this case, pretended that a verdict in 45 minutes was possible, so that when that did not happen it could claim a victory. But a 45-minute deliberation was highly unlikely here because this was a long case and because it is a high-profile case. Okay, so:
70/ Now that we have a verdict—which it’ll take a little while before we hear—we can say this: it’s not a hung jury, which was a real possibility here (I thought a 20% chance, as compared to a 65% chance of conviction and 15% chance of acquittal).
So it is Guilty or Not Guilty.
So it is Guilty or Not Guilty.
71/ Remember that the jury must be unanimous (all 12 having the same position) to acquit or convict on a given charge, and that the jury does not have to take the same view of all charges. So Trump could be convicted on one and acquitted on 33 felonies or vice versa, and so on.
72/ But because of the nature of this case—it is a documents case—and what the issues at trial were, it is likely (very, very likely) to be 34 or close to 34 guilties or 34 or close to 34 not-guilties. No legal analysts really expect the verdict to be broken up in a dramatic way.
73/ And while this wasn’t a short deliberation, I’ll admit it was slightly shorter than I personally expected—which makes it even less likely that the jury (which is filling out the verdict forms right now) was thinking dramatically differently about each of the 34 felonies here.
74/ If the jury had a different view of each count, it’d take even longer than it has for them to deliberate, I think. While juries often take snap-votes at the beginning of deliberations to see where everyone is, even if it’s already unanimous in one direction they’ll usually...
75/ ...take a while to go through the evidence anyway. If the snap-vote on a case with 34 felonies and involving so many weeks of testimony and such a high-profile defendant is mixed—say 6 for acquittal, 6 for guilty, or different votes per count—I’d expect a long deliberation.
76/ Under the circumstances, I wouldn’t call this a long deliberation. In fact, I’d call it a short *enough* one that my gut from trying criminal cases in multiple jurisdictions and representing thousands of defendants is that this is going to be 34 felony convictions for Trump.
77/ That said, only fools predict criminal trial verdicts, candidly. And only fools predict jurors’ body language in court. Fools—or people who make their money (jury consultants) by pretending you can know things most trial attorneys will tell you you cannot really ever know.
78/ That said, we *can* comment on what jury compositions seem more or less helpful to a defendant. For instance, in a typical criminal case the defendant doesn’t want anyone on the jury who has a relative in law enforcement. And both sides usually don’t want lawyers on the jury.
79/ Here, somehow two lawyers ended up on the jury—which is actually astonishing. The reason trial attorneys are worried about lawyers on a jury—let alone two!—is the possibility that all the non-lawyers on the jury will follow the lead of the lawyers, *especially* if they agree.
80/ I do think that’s a bit overstated—most folks hate lawyers; most jurors take their jobs so seriously they’re unlikely to defer to the judgment of another just because of their job title—but lawyer-jurors do sometimes bring to bear legal knowledge other jurors find compelling.
81/ On CNN, a legal analyst is saying that the jury wanting 30 minutes to fill out the verdict forms could mean they’re neither convicting nor acquitting on all charges. Obviously that may turn out to be the case, but I would *not* infer that fact merely from the 30-minute delay.
82/ The jurors want to be deliberate (no pun intended) about what they are doing; 30 minutes is reasonable for everyone to do what they need to do before court convenes, and candidly may take into account what others need rather than just the jurors. The jurors also know that...
83/ ...Trump, like any defendant, will likely poll the jurors individually to have each say if they agree with the verdict (this is done to ensure no one is being pressured). So you don’t want to rush back into the courtroom—you want jurors to have a second to compose themselves.
84/ This said, yes, with 34 counts, if *one* or more of them is going to have a different verdict than the rest, jurors would want to be sure they’re checking the correct box (i.e. that corresponds to the right charge). But that is not something that *itself* requires 30 minutes.
85/ Judge Merchan is on the bench. Both parties have said they are ready to have the jury come in. The judge is preparing to call the jury in.
86/ Remember: Trump will appeal any conviction; he will not be remanded to custody during the pendency of his appeal (I would be absolutely shocked if that happened); and we do not know when a sentence will be issued. We *do* know it would be *unlikely* to involve immediate jail.
87/ The jurors deliberated for 10-11 hours—which, again, is neither long nor short.
That said, this case has gone on for weeks and weeks, and the jury is aware of how high-profile this case is. I would think they would need to feel somewhat strongly to reach a verdict this soon.
That said, this case has gone on for weeks and weeks, and the jury is aware of how high-profile this case is. I would think they would need to feel somewhat strongly to reach a verdict this soon.
88/ And given how this case came in, if you have a unanimous jury that decided this quote-unquote quickly, I really do think that most legal analysts—including this one—would be expecting convictions here.
89/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 1, 2, 3, 4
90/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 5, 6, 7, 8
91/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 9, 10, 11, 12
These are all felonies.
These are all felonies.
92/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
Again, all the charges against Trump—all 34—are felonies.
Again, all the charges against Trump—all 34—are felonies.
93/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
94/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 24, 25, 26, 27
95/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 28, 29, 30, 31, 32
96/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Guilty on Counts 33 and 34
97/ MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: DONALD TRUMP CONVICTED ON ALL 34 FELONIES IN MANHATTAN
98/ The jury is now being individually polled. All jurors are confirming they agree with these verdicts.
99/ Donald Trump is now officially a convicted felon.
100/ Candidly, this is the result all reputable legal analysts across the country anticipated. This verdict is not a surprise in any sense whatsoever.
101/ This thread will run 200+ tweets, so this is just a brief break to note that while this thread and its expertise are free, if you’d like to tip the author for his work, you can do so, in any amount, at Venmo ([@]SethAbramsonTwitter) or the link below: sethabramson.net/pp
102/ We would expect the next step to be for Judge Merchan to excuse the jurors and proceed to post-conviction matters after thanking the jurors.
I have said—as all reputable legal analysts have said—that Donald Trump was dead-to-rights on every one of these very clear charges.
I have said—as all reputable legal analysts have said—that Donald Trump was dead-to-rights on every one of these very clear charges.
103/ This is also a remarkable moment for those journalists—and again I am in this group—who have been reporting, *for years now*, that Donald Trump is a “career criminal.” These 34 felony charges were merely the first that got into court; they aren’t the first 34 he’s committed.
104/ As a Trump biographer and a former criminal defense attorney, I’ve said for years that if Trump had been treated as you or me beginning in the 70s, he would’ve been charged with and convicted of *hundreds* of felonies—and received the equivalent of a life sentence long ago.
105/ So it’s an odd time for Trump biographers and legal analysts; there’ll be much focus on *this case* as though it’s some strange outlier we can analyze to death, but *really* what most criminal justice professionals are thinking is, Why did it take so long for this to happen?
106/ Sentencing in this case has just been scheduled for July 11. Donald Trump is working his way toward the cameras to utter what will no doubt be a string of obscene lies from a career criminal who just got just legal desserts approximately three decades after he earned them.
107/ Trump says everything was rigged, is spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and lies about the case. He says the only verdict that matters is the one in November. It’s all garbage from a career criminal who should have been imprisoned for Theft and Fraud many decades ago.
108/ Trump issued his short, largely incoherent statement and stormed off.
109/ I have so many thoughts right now, so the following tweets will probably be short ones.
110/ The result we just saw is the result Trump would get in every pending criminal case he has.
He knows it; his lawyers know it; America knows it.
And that’s exactly why SCOTUS and Judge Aileen Cannon are trying to keep those cases from going before citizen-composed juries.
He knows it; his lawyers know it; America knows it.
And that’s exactly why SCOTUS and Judge Aileen Cannon are trying to keep those cases from going before citizen-composed juries.
111/ The decision in this case literally had *nothing* to do with Judge Juan Merchan—this was just twelve average Americans, people just like you or me, doing a very difficult civil-service job and doing it well.
112/ Trump has no identifiable (legitimate) issues for appeal. He will not win on appeal unless there is judicial corruption (never, in 2024, an impossibility, sadly).
113/ Trump will be sentenced 96 hours before the MAGA Party—which is not a political party—formally nominates a convicted felon for POTUS. This further confirms that what we are looking at is a cult and not a legitimate political entity.
114/ I won’t go into great detail on this, as I wrote about it in prior threads linked to in the PROOF report below, but Trump is unlikely to be sentenced to any period of incarceration.
However, it is near-certain that a sizable prison sentence will be explicitly over his head.
However, it is near-certain that a sizable prison sentence will be explicitly over his head.
116/ There are many ways to put a jail or prison sentence (jail is for shorter sentences and prison for longer ones, with the cutoff point depending on the jurisdiction) over a defendant’s head, some of which are more explicit than others. A defendant can be put on probation...
117/ ...for a period of years, with alleged violation of probation leading to a hearing where the State bears the burden—albeit a lower-than-trial burden—of proving a violation, after which the court decides what the punishment for the violation (often, not always, jail) will be.
118/ Then there are (the terms change depending on the jurisdiction) suspended/deferred jail or prison sentences which stay suspended or deferred on good behavior—no new arrests and meeting any other court-ordered conditions—which can be fairly easily triggered (brought forward).
119/ Maximum incarceration on this charge—by statute—is 20 years, even though the number of charges and 4 years max/charge would make you think one could do more than 20 years. But again, as it’s a nonviolent Class E felony with a record-less defendant, incarceration is unlikely.
120/ But let’s be clear: Trump is benefitting from all the *past* NYC prosecutors who let him off on prior felony Thefts/Frauds. Had he been properly dealt with by the courts since the 1970s... well, he would already be in prison for life, but would *surely* be incarcerated here.
121/ That said, Trump’s entitled, as any defendant, *not* to the sort of justice he himself prefers—indicting people in the court of public opinion without trial, and destroying the life of anyone who gets *arrested* for anything—but U.S. justice, which has him as without record.
122/ But as I wrote in the threads linked to at PROOF above, this case has countless aggravating factors. A truly staggering number, which I do not know whether it makes sense to write about at length again here. But Judge Merchan *would* have a basis for a *brief* jail sentence.
123/ Practically speaking, though, it’s almost impossible to imagine. Judge Merchan will be handing down his sentence 96 hours before Trump has to be in Milwaukee for the RNC convention—so it’d be bedlam if he issued even a short sentence and remanded him to custody on July 11.
124/ Can a judge issue a sentence that includes incarceration but does not start right away? Yes, and this certainly can happen with a defendant who is not being held pre-sentencing. In such a situation, the defendant is given a date on which they must report to jail or prison.
125/ Can a felon be elected POTUS? Yes. Can a felon serve as POTUS? Yes. Can Trump pardon himself, if elected POTUS, on a state conviction? No.
126/ What will happen between now and July 11 is that Judge Merchan will think about what sentence is just here, possibly get the benefit of some sort of neutral pre-sentencing report, and read the submissions of the State and Team Trump. Both sides will make recommendations.
127/ CNN reports that 10-30% of Class E Felony defendants in New York state are sentenced to some period of incarceration (but keep in mind that those outcomes are dependent on the circumstances of each case, which includes some of those defendants having prior criminal records).
128/ Trump can’t appeal until he’s sentenced. He’ll appeal no matter what the sentence is, and he’ll surely stay free during the pendency of his appeal.
This means that *even if* Judge Merchan sentences him to a period of incarceration, Trump will go home a free man on July 11.
This means that *even if* Judge Merchan sentences him to a period of incarceration, Trump will go home a free man on July 11.
129/ More than this, there is almost no chance Trump’s appeals will be exhausted pre-election, so no matter *what* he is near-certain to be a free man (but out on bail) on Election Day.
130/ That’s one reason Trump was always *OK* (-ish) with this case going to trial pre-election. He will ignore this verdict the same way he did the 2020 election results, lying about what happened and having those lies believed by those who want to believe him. Jail is unlikely.
131/ In the criminal cases Judge Aileen Cannon and the Supreme Court are working as hard as they can to protect Donald Trump from pre-election, the outcome today would have been *very* different.
132/ This thread will run 200+ tweets, so this is just a brief break to note that while this thread and its expertise are free, if you’d like to tip the author for his work, you can do so, in any amount, at Venmo ([@]SethAbramsonTwitter) or the link below: sethabramson.net/pp
133/ BREAKING: Todd Blanche asked for sentencing to come after the RNC convention, per CNN, but Judge Merchan declined to take the date of the convention into account in setting a date (which was the entirely just and fair decision, and the right way to approach scheduling here).
134/ In the Georgia state RICO case against Trump—delayed by a corrupt SCOTUS (acting in a way that defies all precedent) and the ongoing question of whether Fani Willis can stay on as prosecutor in the case—there is a *mandatory minimum sentence* of five years in state prison.
135/ So the conversation we would be having if Trump had just been found guilty in Georgia—rather than being protected from trial by a partisan Supreme Court—would be *very* different from the one we are having right now following his conviction on 34 felony charges on Manhattan.
136/ In the Florida stolen-classified-documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon is protecting Trump from going to trial on charges that *precedent* says (unlike the case here) almost *always* leads to federal prison, so here again we would be having a very different conversation now.
137/ In the DC January 6 case, you have serious charges, a nonpartisan judge, and a precedent for January 6 defendants getting prison time—so not only would you expect a prison sentence but *maybe* even remanding as an active insurrectionist who still endangers national security.
138/ NOTE: An internet meme has just arisen that calls Donald Trump “34” instead of “45.”
139/ It’s important not to expect what just happened in Manhattan to change the rhetoric of any MAGA anywhere one iota—Trump cultists would vote for Trump if he committed mass murder on camera. The question is whether independents or folks who ignore pollsters are getting queasy.
140/ It is worth noting, however, that *if* (and this is unlikely) Judge Merchan sentences Trump to a period of incarceration, it will only derange Trump further in terms of what he is willing to do with respect to stealing the 2024 presidential election, as losing may mean jail.
141/ So I will *briefly* summarize the aggravating factors in this 34-felony Manhattan case that *do* militate for a prison sentence (albeit a low-end one) here:
142/
1⃣ 34 felonies is a large number of felonies; it’s different than 1-2 felonies.
2⃣ The maximum sentence is high—20 years—so a no-time sentence would be even more dramatic.
3⃣ Trump will continue to attack the process/claim innocence.
4⃣ Trump has shown/will show no remorse.
1⃣ 34 felonies is a large number of felonies; it’s different than 1-2 felonies.
2⃣ The maximum sentence is high—20 years—so a no-time sentence would be even more dramatic.
3⃣ Trump will continue to attack the process/claim innocence.
4⃣ Trump has shown/will show no remorse.
143/
5⃣ Trump committed 10 acts of Contempt.
6⃣ Trump is facing 54 other felony counts in 3 other state and federal jurisdictions.
7⃣ Trump called a witness who threatened the judge implicitly and was contemptuous, as part of a non-defense that wasted the court/the jury’s time.
5⃣ Trump committed 10 acts of Contempt.
6⃣ Trump is facing 54 other felony counts in 3 other state and federal jurisdictions.
7⃣ Trump called a witness who threatened the judge implicitly and was contemptuous, as part of a non-defense that wasted the court/the jury’s time.
144/
8⃣ The facts that came into evidence without objection at trial paint Trump as a sexual predator, serial fraudster and essentially an organized-crime figure who perverts everything he touches—dangerous character flaws that Judge Merchan is in fact able to take into account.
8⃣ The facts that came into evidence without objection at trial paint Trump as a sexual predator, serial fraudster and essentially an organized-crime figure who perverts everything he touches—dangerous character flaws that Judge Merchan is in fact able to take into account.
145/
9⃣ Trump tried to intimidate and tamper with jurors and witnesses directly and indirectly.
🔟 Trump created a threatening scenario for all court personnel and family of court personnel, seeking to incite a mob to swarm the courthouse in an unprecedented act of recklessness.
9⃣ Trump tried to intimidate and tamper with jurors and witnesses directly and indirectly.
🔟 Trump created a threatening scenario for all court personnel and family of court personnel, seeking to incite a mob to swarm the courthouse in an unprecedented act of recklessness.
146/
1⃣1⃣ Trump’s conduct in court and at recess and post-court pressers bespoke a man with stunning contempt for rule of law, who—still worse, and again more or less unprecedented—attempts to proselytize to mentally unwell people how much they should violently hate rule of law.
1⃣1⃣ Trump’s conduct in court and at recess and post-court pressers bespoke a man with stunning contempt for rule of law, who—still worse, and again more or less unprecedented—attempts to proselytize to mentally unwell people how much they should violently hate rule of law.
147/
1⃣2⃣ The amplifying offense in this case—the one that elevated the 34 misdemeanors to 34 felonies—was a stunning one that would deeply trouble a state or federal judge: a longstanding conspiracy to steal a presidential election by knowingly and repeatedly defrauding voters.
1⃣2⃣ The amplifying offense in this case—the one that elevated the 34 misdemeanors to 34 felonies—was a stunning one that would deeply trouble a state or federal judge: a longstanding conspiracy to steal a presidential election by knowingly and repeatedly defrauding voters.
148/
1⃣3⃣ Trump directed his legal team to re-victimize in public a woman who he pretty clearly abused, and that would not sit well with the judge. Nor—candidly—would all the disingenuous abuse Trump directed his lawyers to heap on a man Trump knew was telling the truth: Cohen.
1⃣3⃣ Trump directed his legal team to re-victimize in public a woman who he pretty clearly abused, and that would not sit well with the judge. Nor—candidly—would all the disingenuous abuse Trump directed his lawyers to heap on a man Trump knew was telling the truth: Cohen.
149/
1⃣4⃣ There’ll be a presentencing investigation in this case, and it may paint a picture of a sociopath who doesn’t believe rule of law applies to him, has been a scofflaw for decades, and remorselessly incited an armed rebellion against the United States in January of 2021.
1⃣4⃣ There’ll be a presentencing investigation in this case, and it may paint a picture of a sociopath who doesn’t believe rule of law applies to him, has been a scofflaw for decades, and remorselessly incited an armed rebellion against the United States in January of 2021.
150/ What I expect Judge Merchan *won’t* take into account in a traceable way is that Trump tried to endanger the life of his—Merchan’s—daughter. Just so, he may think Trump directed his lawyers to repeatedly violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, but that can’t be confirmed.
151/ He also won’t take into account in any appreciable way—in any way that would aid or hinder Trump’s interests in sentencing—that Trump is a politician, that Trump is a popular (among some) public figure, and that he is a current candidate for President of the United States.
152/ What’s less clear is if he’ll take into account the indications in the testimony that Trump is a career criminal—that the case before this court was merely one that somehow slipped through to law enforcement and the courts, but that Trump’s illicit conduct is pathological.
153/ I do want to take a moment, especially in the face of all those who have a disastrously wrong sense of how Trump biographers and political journalists are feeling in this moment, to add that I do not think this is a moment for celebration.
Why? For many, many key reasons.
Why? For many, many key reasons.
154/ First, there’s nothing to celebrate when the criminal justice system merely works as advertised. What happened today is the very least we can expect from our criminal justice system, and if we celebrate what happened here we are—in a way—pretending that normality is special.
155/ Second, the simple fact that Donald Trump is almost 78 and these are his first criminal convictions actually underscores how broken our system is. In other words, the fact that it worked today only reminds us that it did *not* work as to this defendant for the last 40 years.
156/ Third, while some seem to think this is “vindication” for those of us who have known this man to be a career criminal for years now, that’s a severe misunderstanding of events.
We *knew* what Trump was; we did not doubt it or seek validation. No one should get that twisted.
We *knew* what Trump was; we did not doubt it or seek validation. No one should get that twisted.
157/ (I’m not begrudging anyone feeling joy right now. I’m not the emotion police. But my job, especially at sober moments like these, is to not be the prancing clown MAGAs want to believe Trump’s critics are.
No—we’re historians, attorneys, and journalists who work from facts.)
No—we’re historians, attorneys, and journalists who work from facts.)
158/ Fourth, as I indicated, the impact of the case is no more than confirming what rational folks already knew: Donald Trump is a criminal. It’s not likely to have a political impact; to lead to incarceration; to affect other cases; or impact more than historical records/legacy.
159/ BREAKING NEWS: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Subject to Racist and Antisemitic Attacks By Donald Trump for Months, Addressing Media Now
160/ There’s no major news to report from this presser yet. DA Bragg is a professional and has handled this presser with utmost, unimpeachable professionalism. He’s deflecting every attempt by the media to get him to say something inflammatory, rather than professional and sober.
161/ Continuing the prior list I was making: fifth, we have to acknowledge that this case—in part, but not exclusively, because of how major media covered it—has hurt the criminal justice system by allowing misinformation about it to flourish. A conviction does not mean that...
162/ ...our relationship with our justice system is healthy. Sadly, it’s not; that was beyond this case’s ability to accomplish.
We need *far* more education of the public about how the system works, and a population that takes the same view of it no matter who the defendant is.
We need *far* more education of the public about how the system works, and a population that takes the same view of it no matter who the defendant is.
163/ Sixth, because Mr. Trump has no choice but to do otherwise, the truth of what just happened is already being perverted into abject nonsense. Trump will weaponize—with too little media pushback—what just happened so that it’s unrecognizable by November. That is the sad truth.
164/ Seventh, I fear one case moving to conclusion pre-election will let the judges involved in the other three cases—I don’t mean Judge Chutkan; I mean Judge Cannon and 5 SCOTUS justices—to breathe easy about continuing to block justice in their own cases. They have cover, now.
165/ The danger encompasses all of us. As Trump fundraises off today’s verdict—which he is already, calling himself a political prisoner—the danger is that we in the public who know what Trump is take our foot off our emotional gas and cease demanding his other cases go forward.
166/ Trump will now push to move his sentencing past the RNC, which would be great for him because the later he can push his sentencing the easier it is for him to convince at least one judge who *wants* to be convinced—Cannon—that he can’t be tried in any other case this summer.
167/ Eighth, I’m aware that the Biden campaign hasn’t *always* handled Trump’s criminality well; sometimes they do, and sometimes they have Robert de Niro do a very silly press conference in Manhattan. So I’m nervous about whether Team Biden will react to this news appropriately.
168/ But this is a good day for America, because this was a just result after a fair process.
It’s reasonable for patriotic Americans to feel pleased as long as we also feel resolute.
Today should remind us how much work is left to be done and how much *justice* remains undone.
It’s reasonable for patriotic Americans to feel pleased as long as we also feel resolute.
Today should remind us how much work is left to be done and how much *justice* remains undone.
169/ For those wondering, here is what the headlines on this historic day look like:
170/
171/
172/
173/ BREAKING NEWS: CNN Legal Expert and Former Special Counsel to United States Department of Defense Ryan Goodman Says That He Expects State to Ask for Incarceration on July 11 *and* Expects Judge Merchan to Order Some Period of Incarceration on That Date
174/ Do I agree? Well, yes and no.
Yes, I believe the State will—and *should*—ask for incarceration, for the grounds I listed above as well as the fact that it underscores the seriousness of this conduct and these convictions.
And then no, inasmuch as I think the chances...
Yes, I believe the State will—and *should*—ask for incarceration, for the grounds I listed above as well as the fact that it underscores the seriousness of this conduct and these convictions.
And then no, inasmuch as I think the chances...
175/ ...of Judge Merchan handing down a sentence with a period of incarceration are more like 33% than over 50%. And that sentence, if it is ultimately handed down, would be a year or less—and would likely never be served if Trump is elected in November.
176/ But yes, there are *reasons* for incarceration—and many even beyond those I listed above. I didn’t mention the three civil findings against Trump also in New York, which all involved horrific conduct, contempt for rule of law, manifest cruelty, and (of course) jury findings.
177/ One could argue that those in a position of public trust can and should be held to a higher standard—in sentencing, I mean, obviously not in the factfinding phase of a trial (the one that just concluded in Manhattan)—than others. Trump was a POTUS nominee defrauding America.
178/ And we know Judge Merchan has already contemplated jailing Mr. Trump, because he had to do so after Trump’s *tenth* act of Contempt of Court. And that was *before* the 34 felony convictions we have now, back when Trump was a pre-verdict, presumed-innocent criminal defendant.
179/ Judge Merchan is also surely aware—perhaps more as a semi-conscious, ambient awareness rather than any kind of formal consideration—that even if he sentences Trump to jail it a) would be a brief sentence, b) would likely only ever be served *if* Trump loses in November 2024.
180/ In other words, as much as it might seem otherwise, the way criminal appeals and case schedules work, Judge Merchan knows that he is *not* in a position in which he could be stripping American voters of a choice for president *or* incarcerating someone America has voted for.
181/ If Judge Merchan hands down a sentence that includes jail or prison, he knows it’ll only be served by Trump if—as it were—his political career is over and he is merely a private citizen (and this would be in 2025 or even 2026). Trump would be an 80-year-old serving months...
182/ ...in a minimum-security prison for nonviolent offenders. It wouldn’t be a horrifically arduous ordeal. (Do I still think Trump would flee the United States via jet rather than serve any period of incarceration? Yes. Malignant narcissistic sociopaths don’t accept judgments.)
183/ This thread will run 200+ tweets, so this is just a brief break to note that while this thread and its expertise are free, if you’d like to tip the author for his work, you can do so, in any amount, at Venmo ([@]SethAbramsonTwitter) or the link below: sethabramson.net/pp
184/ Trump is now going on an insane, deranged, unhinged, all-caps rants on Trump Social, interspersed with quotes and audio and video from insurrectionist sympathizers like John Yoo, Jonathan Turley, and William Barr.
Those men are disgraces to my profession. Horrific enablers.
Those men are disgraces to my profession. Horrific enablers.
185/ I’m not going to cover anything Trump is saying.
You must understand that as a longtime criminal defense attorney, I’ve heard it all before in some form or another—though admittedly usually in mental hospitals from men who have been found legally incompetent to stand trial.
You must understand that as a longtime criminal defense attorney, I’ve heard it all before in some form or another—though admittedly usually in mental hospitals from men who have been found legally incompetent to stand trial.
186/ I’m not exaggerating. Those who speak as Trump is now get “crashed”—forcibly restrained by COs—if they act out in this way while incarcerated, or forcibly medicated if they act this way in a mental hospital, or remanded to custody for Contempt if they act this way in court.
187/ I’ll keep saying what I know to be true from being an attorney, journalist and Trump biographer, and I urge all of you to insist on the following in any news coverage you consume seeking to normalize Donald Trump rather than stating plainly and *journalistically* what he is:
188/
1⃣ Donald Trump is a convicted felon.
2⃣ Donald Trump is a confirmed rapist.
3⃣ Donald Trump is a career criminal whose favored crimes are Theft (all varieties), Fraud (all varieties), Bribery, Obstruction, Falsifying Business Records, Conspiracy, Incitement, and Sedition.
1⃣ Donald Trump is a convicted felon.
2⃣ Donald Trump is a confirmed rapist.
3⃣ Donald Trump is a career criminal whose favored crimes are Theft (all varieties), Fraud (all varieties), Bribery, Obstruction, Falsifying Business Records, Conspiracy, Incitement, and Sedition.
189/
4⃣ Donald Trump is a serial adulterer.
5⃣ Donald Trump abused his kids and wives physically, emotionally, and psychologically.
6⃣ Donald Trump is a war criminal.
7⃣ Donald Trump is a traitor to the United States.
8⃣ Donald Trump colludes with America’s enemies for profit.
4⃣ Donald Trump is a serial adulterer.
5⃣ Donald Trump abused his kids and wives physically, emotionally, and psychologically.
6⃣ Donald Trump is a war criminal.
7⃣ Donald Trump is a traitor to the United States.
8⃣ Donald Trump colludes with America’s enemies for profit.
190/
9⃣ Donald Trump has engaged in human trafficking (at Trump Models).
🔟 Donald Trump has knowingly cavorted with—and otherwise associated with—pedophiles.
More:
1⃣1⃣ Donald Trump incestuously lusts after his daughter.
1⃣2⃣ Donald Trump is a draft-dodger and abject coward.
9⃣ Donald Trump has engaged in human trafficking (at Trump Models).
🔟 Donald Trump has knowingly cavorted with—and otherwise associated with—pedophiles.
More:
1⃣1⃣ Donald Trump incestuously lusts after his daughter.
1⃣2⃣ Donald Trump is a draft-dodger and abject coward.
191/
1⃣3⃣ Donald Trump has utter contempt for current soldiers and veterans, religious people of any stripe, working-class contractors, Jews, Black Americans, women, American rule of law, the entire LGBTQIA2S+ community, almost his entire family, his own voters, and democracy.
1⃣3⃣ Donald Trump has utter contempt for current soldiers and veterans, religious people of any stripe, working-class contractors, Jews, Black Americans, women, American rule of law, the entire LGBTQIA2S+ community, almost his entire family, his own voters, and democracy.
192/
1⃣4⃣ Donald Trump respects organized crime, tyranny, and those adept at abusing and conning—particularly sexual abuse of women and conning involving the poor and/or uneducated. One of his major kinks is watching women urinate because he thinks he demeans and defiles them.
1⃣4⃣ Donald Trump respects organized crime, tyranny, and those adept at abusing and conning—particularly sexual abuse of women and conning involving the poor and/or uneducated. One of his major kinks is watching women urinate because he thinks he demeans and defiles them.
193/
1⃣5⃣ Donald Trump has committed hundreds of felonies in his life—and as a malignant narcissist sociopath who’s borderline illiterate, would either be in a gutter or a prison had he not inherited $400 million (much more with inflation) from his Ku Klux Klan-sympathizing dad.
1⃣5⃣ Donald Trump has committed hundreds of felonies in his life—and as a malignant narcissist sociopath who’s borderline illiterate, would either be in a gutter or a prison had he not inherited $400 million (much more with inflation) from his Ku Klux Klan-sympathizing dad.
194/
1⃣6⃣ Donald Trump is a government snitch.
1⃣7⃣ Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to sell U.S. policy to our enemies—as he has no core values, no policy agenda he abidingly believes in, and no interest at all in whether America is engulfed in flame and crashes into the sea.
1⃣6⃣ Donald Trump is a government snitch.
1⃣7⃣ Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to sell U.S. policy to our enemies—as he has no core values, no policy agenda he abidingly believes in, and no interest at all in whether America is engulfed in flame and crashes into the sea.
195/
1⃣8⃣ Donald Trump tried to murder a classmate when he was in military school.
1⃣9⃣ Donald Trump threw rocks at a baby when he was a child.
2⃣0⃣ Donald Trump sought to profit financially from the violent helicopter death of one of his closest friends *on the day he died*.
1⃣8⃣ Donald Trump tried to murder a classmate when he was in military school.
1⃣9⃣ Donald Trump threw rocks at a baby when he was a child.
2⃣0⃣ Donald Trump sought to profit financially from the violent helicopter death of one of his closest friends *on the day he died*.
196/
2⃣1⃣ The only interest Donald Trump had in 9/11 was in going on television and bragging that one of his buildings was now the tallest in New York City (feel free to Google that).
2⃣2⃣ Trump is often violently incontinent.
2⃣3⃣ Trump has abused drugs repeatedly in the past.
2⃣1⃣ The only interest Donald Trump had in 9/11 was in going on television and bragging that one of his buildings was now the tallest in New York City (feel free to Google that).
2⃣2⃣ Trump is often violently incontinent.
2⃣3⃣ Trump has abused drugs repeatedly in the past.
197/
2⃣4⃣ Trump is responsible for the deaths of or injuries to hundreds of thousands of people—including both hundreds of thousands of Americans (COVID-19) and a large number of U.S. soldiers (see Turkey bombing U.S. soldiers in Syria and Iran shelling U.S. soldiers in Iraq).
2⃣4⃣ Trump is responsible for the deaths of or injuries to hundreds of thousands of people—including both hundreds of thousands of Americans (COVID-19) and a large number of U.S. soldiers (see Turkey bombing U.S. soldiers in Syria and Iran shelling U.S. soldiers in Iraq).
198/
2⃣5⃣ Trump’s bigotries extend beyond those I have already mentioned: he also hates Latinos, immigrants, overweight people, foreigners, Tiffany, academics, journalists, schoolteachers, and anyone else who reminds him how uninteresting, stupid, uncultured and dishonest he is.
2⃣5⃣ Trump’s bigotries extend beyond those I have already mentioned: he also hates Latinos, immigrants, overweight people, foreigners, Tiffany, academics, journalists, schoolteachers, and anyone else who reminds him how uninteresting, stupid, uncultured and dishonest he is.
199/ All this is (a) the tip of the iceberg, and, again, (b) statements I make *as a journalist* with a *legal background* who’s been a bestselling *Trump biographer* for years. I have no interest in whether major media types think these statements are intemperate; they are true.
200/ History will vindicate what I’ve written about Trump and what others who’ve written of him critically have said. Unscrupulous access journalists can attack us for clout—or access—in Trumpworld, but we have the high ground because we’re telling confirmed, corroborated truths.
201/ In view of all that I’ve just said, you can understand why I feel today is a bittersweet day. What Americans in 2024 understand about what Donald Trump *is* is just a drop in the bucket of what historians will understand and accept as inalterable fact in 2124. So I’m sad...
202/ ...to know that I and all of us will live our lives—start to finish—in an era in which the truth about Donald Trump (the full truth, which is a literal horror movie) is *not* widely known or accepted, and those of us who speak it are attacked and belittled. And that truth...
203/ ...goes so far beyond 34 felony convictions for Falsifying Business Records as part of an Election Fraud conspiracy—historically horrifying as that conduct is—I almost find myself unable to express how little of this monster we’re really seeing.
It’s a small, brief glimpse.
It’s a small, brief glimpse.
204/ The jury in Manhattan saw that glimpse and convicted faster than expected. There’s a chance Judge Merchan will see that glimpse and understand that he needs to sentence Trump to prison. And I still believe in America enough to have faith we will save ourselves in November.
205/ I hope you found this illuminating. I hope you feel I bring together my experiences and expertises in a way that’s educational. If you’d like to tip me for this work, you can do so, in any amount, at Venmo—[@]SethAbramsonTwitter—or via PayPal, here: sethabramson.net/pp
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