MSNBC host Rachel Maddow thanked the jurors and said they should be protected, as the network reported on a Manhattan jury’s unanimous verdict of guilty on all charges in former President Donald Trump’s business records trial.
“Look, this is a unanimous verdict on all charges. This is a final, irreversible verdict. He can appeal, and he will appeal. But this is everything the prosecutors wanted from the jury. The jury took this case very seriously in every respect. We’ve counted the deliberations here. The test for us as a country is not what happens at appeal. It’s not what happens at sentencing. The test for us now, Count, is whether this former president and his cohorts are successful in undermining the rule of law, so that the public rejects this as a legitimate function of the rule of law in our country. They’ve tried to delegitimize this judge. They’ve tried to delegitimize the courts and the law under which he was charged. The people involved in this case have been threatened and intimidated, and every effort has been made to deny the American people the legitimacy of their legal process. Now it’s up to the American people to decide whether they want to accept those efforts.”
She added, “We know what it’s like to try a former president and see that trial come to fruition. It was hypothetical even before this man was a former president. But now we’ve experienced it, and we know the judicial process works. You can try a defendant who is a former president. Again, the appeals process continues. The sentencing process continues, all of those things add pressure. But the justice system in this country treats a former president as a citizen. We’ve seen it. This jury deserves to be appreciated and protected for their efforts. They deserve to be protected from the attacks and convictions that come with the judicial process.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter Follow
