Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters with his attorney Todd Blanche as jurors are released to begin deliberations on his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, NY, Wednesday, May 29, 2024 .
Jabin Botsford | Reuters
Lawyers for Donald Trump told a New York judge that the president-elect's hush money trial was tainted by “serious jury misconduct” and that his guilty verdicts should therefore be overturned.
“The jury was not remotely fair and impartial in this case,” attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove told Judge Juan Merchan in a Dec. 3 letter released Tuesday.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office responded at the time that the allegations “appear to be inaccurate” and noted that Trump's lawyers were resisting holding a hearing where the claims could be “fully examined.”
Blanche and Bove's seven-page letter is heavily edited. The visible portions of the letter provide few details or evidence to support the allegations of wrongdoing.
The correspondence was released a day after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Merchan rejected Trump's request to overturn his hush-money conviction, citing presidential immunity.
Read the full letter.
The judge did not rule on other arguments Trump's team had made to dismiss the case. Even if Merchan rejects the remaining challenges, it is unclear when Trump, who takes office on January 20, might be convicted.
In his ruling Monday night, Merchan addressed Blanche's allegations of jury misconduct, saying they “should be thoroughly investigated” – but only as part of an affidavit.
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“This court is prohibited from deciding such claims based on mere hearsay and conjecture,” Merchan wrote.
“Unless a properly filed complaint is filed, this court cannot permit the public filing of unsworn and admittedly contested statements,” the judge wrote.
“This would jeopardize the safety of jurors and violate the agreed upon regulation governing the disclosure of jury information.”
Neither Blanche nor the DA's office immediately responded to CNBC's request for additional comment.
In late May, a jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a scheme leading up to the 2016 presidential election to stop porn star Stormy Daniels from admitting to an alleged one-night stand with Trump years earlier discuss. Trump, who has denied having sex with Daniels, claimed he was the victim of a political indictment and a biased judge.
In November, Merchan postponed Trump's sentencing date indefinitely as his lawyers sought time to argue that the trial should be dismissed in light of his election victory.
Last month, Trump named Blanche and Bove to take top positions at the U.S. Justice Department in the next administration.
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