During the final stages of the trial Tuesday, Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass delivered his closing argument for more than five hours, saying the prosecution has presented “powerful” evidence in their case against Trump.
Steinglass said Trump’s intent to defraud “could not be any clearer,” arguing that it would have been far easier for him to pay Stormy Daniels directly. Instead, the prosecutor said, he concocted an elaborate scheme and everything he and his cohorts did was “cloaked in lies.”
WINNERS AND LOSERS EMERGE AFTER GUILTY VERDICT IN NY V. TRUMP
Dershowitz joined a host of other legal scholars in criticizing the evidence brought forth against Trump and the law pertaining to the charges.
“The facts of the law of the case here are an absolute joke,” he reasoned. “This was essentially a directed verdict of guilt by the judge, by giving them the multiple-choice defense.”
“As soon as Bragg indicted, we knew there was going to be a conviction. It was a foregone conclusion. So yesterday’s result is not news. It was just the end result of a completely predictable injustice that was engineered from the very beginning by a politician who had campaigned on the promise to get Trump.”
A ‘Mornings with Maria’ panel provides their reaction to the New York v. Trump verdict after the former president was found guilty on 34 counts.
With the trial taking place in a deep-blue city and state, Dershowitz also noted the jury may have been influenced by outside social and political pressures.
“Every judge understands that if you’re perceived as doing anything in favor of Trump, in a city like New York, particularly in Manhattan, your life is over. And every juror understood that. Every judge understood that,” he told host Maria Bartiromo.
Each of the 34 counts carries a maximum prison sentence of 4 years. In total, Trump faces a maximum sentence of 136 years. It is expected former President Trump will appeal the ruling, but Dershowitz fears “the appellate judges will fall into the same get-Trump trap and we’ll see no checks and balance on our system of rule of law.”
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The former president’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just four days before the start of the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
“This is so dangerous to all Americans. Today it’s get Trump. Tomorrow, it’s get you. Tomorrow, it’s get me. Tomorrow, it’s get your loved one,” he said.
“The American system has been weaponized against political enemies, and that is a great loss for all Americans.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
