Former President Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, doubled down on his belief that his client is not guilty in his silence case, arguing after the verdict that it was difficult for his team to receive a fair trial.
“I firmly believe that the jury should have found President Trump innocent. I mean…in my soul, I believe that,” Blanche said in a Thursday CNN interview with Kaitlan Collins. “[…]I left my job to do what I did the last few weeks and my conviction about what happened today and what I believe, the facts show and remains the same.”
Trump was found guilty on Thursday of all 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former US president to become a convicted felon. The charges stemmed from reimbursements made to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former agent and lawyer, for a secret payment made to adult pornographic actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair with the former president.
Blanche, in a separate interview on FOX News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” said she did not believe Trump received a fair trial.
“I mean, we’ve been saying for over a year that we wouldn’t get a fair trial in Manhattan, we wouldn’t get a fair trial with the judge. he said, adding, “And what happens in a trial is, you attend the trial and all the decisions that were made in the weeks and months leading up to the trial, they matter, the evidence that can come in, the evidence that can’t come in. .
“And when we attended the trial, that’s when we really felt like we weren’t getting a fair answer,” he added.
Blanche pointed to the jury and how there was a “prejudice” that the defense “couldn’t overcome.”
“Every single person on that jury knew Donald Trump as president, as a candidate, from ‘The Apprentice,’ and so I don’t accept that this was a fair place to try,” he told CNN, questioning the trial’s decision. location in New York City.
After the verdict, Trump said he was a “very innocent man.”
“This was a fraudulent decision from day one with a conflicted judge who should never have been allowed to try this case. Never,” Trump said. “And we will fight for our Constitution. This is still far from over. Thank you very much.”
The judge set a sentencing date for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention, at which Trump is expected to be officially named the Republican nominee for president in 2024.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
