As the jury in Donald Trump’s infamous Manhattan Stormy Daniels Hush Money trial deliberates as we speak, the scandal-plagued former president who is teetering on the precipice of a staggering 34 felony convictions is becoming more and more desperate and afraid with each passing moment.
That fact is on clear display this afternoon in his posts on his Truth Social platform as he appears to be pivoting into a new defense tactic — claiming that he doesn’t even know what’s going on, or what his charges are.
This morning, the former president broke tradition when he ignored the pool of reporters gathered outside of the Manhattan courthouse as he made his way into his trial. However, when this afternoon’s first break came around, Donald turned his attention to that same group of reporters and effectively set an extremely low expectation of a not-guilty verdict when he declared, “Mother Theresa could not beat these charges” — something that came across as yet another grievance about a “rigged trial” as opposed to an actual admission of guilt, but exposes Donald’s lack of confidence in the trial, all the same.
However, just literal moments later, the disgraced ex-president shifted gears once more, when he took to his Truth Social account during the trial break and attempted to claim that he is somehow completely ignorant of what he’s even being charged with in this monumental, high-profile case.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Writing on Truth Social in his signature caps-lock style, Donald Trump raged:
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CHARGES ARE IN THIS RIGGED CASE—I AM ENTITLED TO SPECIFICITY JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE. THERE IS NO CRIME!”
To be entirely frank, this is simply absolute nonsense.
Donald Trump has been inside the courtroom during every single, waking moment of this trial for almost 5 weeks now, under direct orders from Judge Juan Merchan who is presiding over the Hush Money case. Further, I’d certainly love to understand how he can simultaneously both call this trial “rigged” and yet somehow not even understand what it’s about. Finally, at the end of the day, Trump’s full and complete list of charges as well as multiple, extensive breakdowns of this entire trial and this entire case from the very beginning can be found in a 5-second Google search.
For what it’s worth, former President Donald J. Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in connection to hush money payments made to adult film star and alleged former Trump affair partner Stormy Daniels in the midst of his 2016 presidential campaign, in an alleged effort to buy her silence about their alleged one-night stand. The prosecution has presented these hush money payments and Donald’s subsequent behaviors as violations of federal election regulations.
Nevertheless, even if we play along with the former president here and assume that he truly is ignorant of his own charges, it still does not serve as a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card in both the figurative and literal sense — as ignorance does not allow you to escape culpability of the law.
The Latin phrase, “Ignorantia juris non excusat” roughly translates to “ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law” — a legal principle in the US that states, “A person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely by being unaware of its content.”
The short of it is, that this tactic simply will not work.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
