News/Commentary

Trump jurors repeatedly ask judge to re-read instructions. But why does NBC journo have a copy, and not the jurors?

May 30, 2024 | | Print Article

Outrage is brewing over reports that an NBC News reporter got a copy of the Trump jury’s instructions, but the jury itself didn’t.

The reporter, correspondent Laura Jarrett, revealed that she was in possession of the instructions in this video seen here.

“I got ’em,” she said in the clip. “These are the instructions that the jury has to follow in Donald Trump’s hush money trial before they can reach a verdict. 53 pages. This is complicated. This is lengthy stuff. It took the judge over an hour to read it, but guess what?”

“The jury doesn’t get this in the room during deliberations. They have to write questions. They write notes. But they don’t get these instructions. In New York, both parties have to agree and the judge has to agree. And in this case, it didn’t happen. They don’t have this in the room right now,” she added.

The fact that she had the instructions but the jury didn’t, triggered a flood of outrage, with critics calling the case rigged and lashing out at the demonstrably biased judge, Juan Merchan.

Look:

Thanks to Judge Merchan’s decision to deny copies of the instructions to the jury, their deliberation has been slow, with the jury repeatedly having to take time to ask the judge questions about the rules.

On Wednesday, for instance, the jury asked to hear the instructions again. The jury also asked to rehear some testimony. On Thursday, the jury once again asked the judge to repeat instructions.

Meanwhile, members of the public are also upset with Merchan for his confusing instructions on coming to a verdict.

The Associated Press has tried to “fact-check” Sen. Marco Rubio and others complaining about this discrepancy, but as usual, the “fact-check” isn’t very convincing.

“Merchan said that to convict Trump the jury will have to find unanimously, on each of 34 felony counts, that he falsified business records and that he did so with the intent of concealing another crime — in this case, violating a state election law during his 2016 campaign,” the supposed “fact-check” reads.

“The judge said jurors could consider three different ways the law may have been broken and that they don’t have to be unanimous on this decision,” it continues.

Most critics were left unconvinced, including former President Donald Trump himself.

“I don’t even know what the charges are in this rigged case — I am entitled to specificity just like anyone else,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.

The first day of jury deliberations ended after five hours and two notes to the judge but no verdict.

“The first note provided tea leaves for jury watchers. The panel requested to review testimony from four moments in the trial when key witnesses described events central to the allegation that Trump conspired with his former fixer, Michael Cohen, and tabloid publisher David Pecker to bury negative stories during the 2016 campaign,” according to Politico.

“In a second note, jurors made another request that served as a Rorschach test for court observers: Could Merchan please reread his 55-page jury instructions?” Politico notes.

Vivek Saxena
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