Closing arguments in former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan business records trial begin Tuesday.
The defense will make closing arguments first, followed by the team of New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
Closing arguments could continue into a second day.
Trump took to Truth Social on Monday night to dispute the decision, posting:
Why is a corrupt government allowed to make closing arguments in the case against me? Why can’t the defense make closing arguments? Huge advantage, very unfair. Witch hunt! DJT
In a follow-up post, Trump addressed other aspects of the trial that legal analysts said were unfair.
Trump noted that Judge Juan Marchan had rejected the defense’s attempt to call Mark Pomerantz as a witness, a former prosecutor in Bragg’s office. Trump also noted that Marchan had placed too many restrictions on what another witness, former Federal Election Commissioner Brad Smith, could say about campaign finance law, so the defense decided not to use him. Trump also noted that Marchan had blasted another defense witness, Bob Costello, threatening to remove his testimony from the record because Costello frowned on Marchan’s ruling.
Trump posted:
Can someone please ask Judge Marchan what happened to Mark Pomerantz, whose actions Alvin Bragg was outraged by, in this trumped up and unconstitutional lawsuit, and why he was not allowed to testify? Also, why did Judge Marchan not allow Brad Smith, the nation’s leading election law expert, to testify? He would have just explained the law, said President Trump did nothing wrong, and ended the case immediately. Similarly, Bob Costello, why all of his direct and irrefutable knowledge was so badly treated and completely silenced by an interested judge, and why his emails and text messages were not made public… and of course, there is the biggest event of them all, which I am not allowed to talk about because I am under an illegal and unconstitutional gag order. This is the Biden White House’s job. Election interference!
Harvard legal scholar Alan Dershowitz was in court last week and later wrote, “The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, but to the jury he appeared to be a benevolent tyrant. The judge seemed to automatically rule against the defendant at every turn.”
Greg Jarrett, a former lawyer and current Fox News legal analyst, wrote in an op-ed on Foxnews.com that the trial “bears no resemblance” to the “cherished constitutional promise” of the right to a fair trial.
Jarrett writes:
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s absurd lawsuit makes a mockery of our justice system. Judge Juan Marchan compounded the injustice by dismantling the due process principles that all defendants deserve. His rulings consistently sided with the prosecution, denying Trump’s defense a genuine defense that would have been allowed in any other court.
…
“Brugg and Marchan worked together to demonstrate that there is little respect for the rule of law or the rights of the accused. This is not a fair courtroom. This is an Orwellian show trial where the outcome is predetermined. There is no presumption of innocence, only a prediction of guilt.
The verdict will be decided by a 12-person jury.
President Joe Biden is already scheduled to make a statement on the ruling. POLITICO The report came out on Friday, citing four anonymous sources.
Biden will reportedly issue a statement from the White House to say his comments were “not political.”
Related — J.D. Vance: Trump trial is about Biden’s ‘failed record as commander in chief’
He reportedly plans to make a statement on the outcome of whether Trump is found guilty. If Trump is found guilty, he will reportedly argue that a “convicted felon” should not be president, but is preparing for a “barrage of criticism” from Republicans and Trump in the event of an acquittal or split verdict.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that a conviction would not dramatically change support for Trump, with a majority of his supporters (68%) saying it would have no effect on their approval rating, while 24% said a conviction would make them more likely to vote for Trump.
Only 6% said they would be less likely to vote for him if he was found guilty.
