Trump lawyers allege ‘grave juror misconduct’ in their latest attack on hush money conviction
Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump say they’ve received evidence of “grave juror misconduct” in the New York criminal case that resulted in his being convicted on 34 felony counts.
“The extensive and pervasive misconduct at issue violated President Trump’s rights under the federal Constitution and New York law,” Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a Dec. 3 letter that was unsealed Tuesday.
Trump’s attorneys told NBC News they wrote the letter after a juror in the case reached out to them. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Details of the alleged misconduct were unclear. The letter is heavily redacted.
In a reply letter also unsealed Tuesday, the DA called the misconduct allegations “vague,” and said the person who shared the claim had told Trump’s team its summary of the allegations “contains inaccuracies.”
In an order Monday directing the letter to be made public, Judge Juan Merchan said it contained “unsworn and contested statements” that could threaten jurors’ safety if posted in full on the public court docket.
An unredacted part of the letter says, “This behavior is completely unacceptable and it demonstrates without question that the verdicts in this case are as unreliable as DA Bragg’s promise to protect Manhattanites from violent crime.”
The letter urged Merchan to “consider” the allegations while he decides on Trump’s motions to dismiss the case, but the judge said in his Monday order that he cannot do so.
“Allegations of juror misconduct should be thoroughly investigated. However, this Court is prohibited from deciding such claims on the basis of mere hearsay and conjecture,” the judge wrote, noting that could change if Trump moved to set aside the verdict on the grounds of juror misconduct.
“Such a motion ‘must contain sworn allegations,'” the judge wrote.
He added, “Should a properly filed claim be submitted, these redactions will be revisited.”
The DA’s letter said Trump’s attorneys told the judge they did not want a hearing on the alleged misconduct, and referred to the possibility as “invasive factfinding.”
The filings came one day after Merchan denied Trump’s bid to dismiss his conviction on charges of falsifying business records case against him on the grounds of presidential immunity.
The president-elect unloaded on Merchan for that decision in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, calling it a “completely illegal psychotic order.”
Merchan “completely disrespected the United States Supreme Court, and its Historic Decision on Immunity,” Trump added. “But even without Immunity, this illegitimate case is nothing but a Rigged Hoax.”
Trump still has one more sweeping motion to dismiss the case against him pending before the judge.
