The jury angle
Friday, May 31, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* ILGOP…
Following the verdict in the New York trial of President Trump, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement:
“Let’s call this trial what it really is: a political prosecution the likes of which occurs in banana republics but not previously in these United States. Democrat activist investigators and prosecutors have relentlessly hounded President Trump for years. First, they challenged the legitimacy of his election in 2016 thru the Russian collusion hoax. Then, they strove to defeat his re-election in 2020 thru impeachments and the Hunter Biden laptop coverup. Then, they indicted him and his supporters to tarnish his legacy in an effort to re-elect President Biden. This weaponization of the judicial system has weakened our country here and in the eyes of the world, which I’m sure President Biden will savor while he vacations in Delaware as his handlers make critical decisions for the country.”
I followed up by asking if all the jurors were in on it, too. I never heard back.
* The Illinois Freedom Caucus sent out a similar email…
“This is a sad day for our nation. Regardless of one’s view of President Donald Trump, every person accused under our laws deserves a fair trial and a fair legal process. The case against President Trump was rigged from the outset. The prosecutor Alvin Bragg ran a campaign promising to prosecute President Trump. The judge in the case is a Democrat and has a daughter directly involved in Democratic party politics. Throughout the entire process, the judge refused to allow key witnesses for the defense and allowed the prosecution to do virtually whatever they wanted to do. The judge clearly had his thumbs on the scales of justice.
President Trump will be vindicated on appeal but what happened here is the sanctioning of political persecution. This trial, this verdict, this manipulation of our justice system is the new face of leftist tyranny. The unhinged left may be celebrating now, but they will not win the war. The American people will see through this sham trial and they will elect Donald Trump President of the United States in November. The only verdict we the people care about is the one coming on November 5th.”
I asked the same question about the jurors. But, in this instance, I did get a response…
If JB Pritzker were tried in Clay County do you seriously think that would be a fair trial? JB received about the same percentage of the vote Trump got in that area of New York.
But beyond that - the jury can only act on the information and instructions they are given. The judge did everything possible to ensure this outcome. It won’t stand on appeal but that is not the point of the case in the first place.
And finally, do you really think this is the direction we need to go in our country where the courts are weaponized to go after political enemies? This is a terrible precedent.
I responded: “Are you saying that the jury system doesn’t work?”…
In this case, the biased judge and prosecutor manipulated it.
* Along those same lines, here is Center Square…
U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, a southern Illinois Republican, posted to X, formerly Twitter, that she sat in the courtroom for a day.
“[And] it was a complete SHAM,” Miller posted. “The Democrat’ judge’ instructed the jury to find President Trump guilty if only 4 out of 12 of them agreed on a crime. The anti-Trump witnesses admitted to lying under oath. The corrupt prosecutor was sent by the Biden DOJ!”
NBC News debunks…
That’s not true. Merchan instructed the jurors Wednesday that they “must conclude unanimously that a defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means,” adding that they “need not be unanimous as to what those unlawful means were.”
That means that jurors have to agree unanimously that Trump committed a crime by engaging in a criminal conspiracy to falsify records with the intent to commit one or more other crimes to convict him. But jurors can choose from three options about what those other crimes were: violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act, falsification of other business records or violation of tax laws. Those “unlawful means” aren’t charges themselves, and they wouldn’t result in separate convictions, so jurors don’t have to unanimously agree on them.
* Meanwhile, this photo was taken earlier today in Homer Township…
Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich has been organizing monthly pro-Trump rallies. I was told he was the one who ordered the flag to be flown upside-down. So, I called him.
“The flag is flying the correct way now,” Balich told me.
Asked why he ordered the flag to fly upside-down, Balich said, ” I considered the whole United States under extreme distress.”
The verdict, he said, “is only part of it. I’m just saying we don’t have the rule of law anymore.”
Asked about the 12 jurors who unanimously agreed to convict the former president on all 34 counts, Balich said, “It wasn’t about the verdict of 12 people that I don’t agree with. They can do whatever they want, they’re the jurors.” Instead, he said, it was “not a fair trial.”
Balich said he reversed his decision after talking to the attorney general’s staff and his own private lawyer, who said, “It’s best if I just put it up the right way.”
“Do I want to do that? No. If it was up to me I’d leave it up until Trump is elected president.”
* More…
* ‘Trump will never be 47′: Pritzker sounds off after hush money guilty verdict: “After facing a jury of his peers, Donald Trump is exposed as the liar and fraud that he is. Trump evaded the law to deceive voters and today, the law caught up with him. Donald Trump is a racist, a homophobe, a grifter, and a threat to this country. He can now add one more title to his list - a felon. But let me be clear, Donald Trump will never be 47.”
OK, take at least four deep breaths before commenting.
- Unwatchable content - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:14 pm:
Don Tracy agreeing with Rod Blagojevich.
Your 2024 Republican Party leadership ladies and gentlemen.
- Oklahoma - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:16 pm:
He was on trial?
- Save Ferris - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:16 pm:
Nice to see the Homer Township Supervisor, a guy who won his office on a tie breaker drawing, representing himself and not his community.
- Vote Quimby - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:18 pm:
I feel the country is under “extreme duress” also, but probably for different reasons than those who choose to fly upside-down flags.
- Homebody - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:21 pm:
I appreciate the ILGOP (and nationwide) has given up even pretending that “rule of law” means anything other than “no consequences for their team are permitted.”
- Excitable Boy - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:23 pm:
- The prosecutor Alvin Bragg ran a campaign promising to prosecute President Trump. -
Do you geniuses not remember Trump’s platform in 2016? I swear it involved locking someone up.
- Moon - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:27 pm:
Question
If Trump had decided not to run would this case have been pursued?
Rich the jury was mot in on the “get Trump”, they just happened to be used by the judge, the prosecutor, DOJ, etc.
- ThePAMan - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:29 pm:
I would be more sympathetic to those complaining about “the norms” being violated with this prosecution if the Jan 6th Insurrection and Fake Electors Scheme had never occurred. The fact is “the norms” were trampled and then burned by the Trumpers years ago.
- levivotedforjudy - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:29 pm:
People can access accurate information now more than at any time in history. But they seek and see what they want to see.
- Perrid - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:30 pm:
They can’t even point to specific things that are wrong, they can’t tell us what went wrong, they just know it’s wrong. Somehow.
- Former Downstater - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:31 pm:
== If JB Pritzker were tried in Clay County do you seriously think that would be a fair trial?==
Clay County residents catching strays. And, in other words, we think our voters are as biased and out of touch with reality as we accuse our opposition of being.
- 47th Ward - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:31 pm:
Does anyone believe Trump didn’t sleep with these two women and then agreed to pay them off to buy their silence?
Anyone?
- Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:31 pm:
Republicans and hypocrisy.
Peanut butter and jelly.
- Aaron B - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:33 pm:
I wonder what the GOP can come up with if they are asked why they believe Biden is persecuting the felonious former president when Biden’s own Dept of Justice declined to prosecute the falsifying documents case. It would be so much easier if it was actually being prosecuted under people in Biden’s administration.
- fs - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:34 pm:
Good to know that the Freedom Caucus believes that the courts in Clay County are corrupt. Put this in the file for the next time they end up there after venue shopping for a favorable Court to rule on their next wacky lawsuit.
- Common Sense - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:34 pm:
We just accept that elected officials, like Mary Miller, will lie to the public. The judges directions to the jury are an easily looked up thing. Only a matter of time before folks like her call for an open rebellion. Scary times.
- Ducky LaMoore - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:44 pm:
And not a single time have these folks asked themselves, “could I be wrong about this guy?” Maybe he is just a criminal. Just a thought.
- Terry Salad - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:45 pm:
I was a Boy Scout. I find the Homer Township Supervisor’s action flying our nation’s flag upside down incredibly disrespectful and un-American. Shame on him. Shame!
- Grandson of Man - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:49 pm:
Maybe Republicans can explain why their incessant calls for law and order don’t apply to one of their own who has been shouting it out for the last nine years.
- Big Dipper - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:55 pm:
Why am I not surprised Tracy’s law school is ranked 140.
- VK - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 1:56 pm:
Give it a bit, they’ll start full on attacking the jury. They will not be able to help themselves.
- Jocko - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:00 pm:
What the ILGOP and others fail to acknowledge is that Alvin Bragg brought the receipts.
Illinois’ own Carl Sandberg said it best “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”
- Former Downstater - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:02 pm:
VK, let’s hope it’s just with words.
- hisgirlfriday - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:10 pm:
The local angle that concerns me- How can we use this felony conviction and the civil fraud verdicts against him and his companies to get the eyesore nameplate off the side of the building at 401 N. Wabash and out of Chicago River pictures?
- JS Mill - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:15 pm:
Toddler talk and behavior from the toddler party.
When you lose…throw a tantrum.
=Rich the jury was mot in on the “get Trump”, they just happened to be used by the judge, the prosecutor, DOJ, etc.=
This jury was equally chosen by the defense. It was made up, in part, of people who followed truth social and fox news.
The defense had all the time they wanted to present their case and to cross examine any prosecution witness.
At the end of the day, and in very short order, the jury UNANIMOUSLY determined trump’s guilt on every single count. Not one dissenting vote on any of the 34 counts.
Now you may resume programming.
- Candy Dogood - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:20 pm:
=== I’m just saying we don’t have the rule of law anymore.”===
I suppose this supervisor was unaware of how ironic his statement was as he chose to use a public flag on public property to make a personal political opinion known after abusing the authority the public placed in him when he was elected.
Folks need to stop treating oaths of office like iPhone terms of service agreements.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:22 pm:
Did Don Tracy wear blinders and ear muffs during the trial of DJT? The antics from some of the Illinois legislators resemble Reality Television. That’s not a positive for Illinois.
- illinifan - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:25 pm:
Already called Homer township to voice my complaint. I wish we could do a recall vote for this idiot who was barely elected. It is embarrassing to say I live in this township.
- Duck Duck Goose - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:41 pm:
I seem to recall Trump bragging that he was so beloved in New York that he could shoot someone in Times Square and nobody would convict him. Given that, it seems strange for everyone to argue that he can’t get a fair trial in New York.
It also seems strange that the official position of the Freedom Caucus is that the citizens of Clay County can’t be trusted. Maybe they’re right (I don’t know anyone in Clay County), but its seems an odd thing to say out loud.
- Rich Miller - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:45 pm:
Just a reminder that anonymous posts are deleted.
- cermak_rd - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:49 pm:
I like to think the citizens of Clay county would be impartial in their jury service. That they would ask for specific testimony of key witnesses and the specifics of the charges and deliberate and decide accordingly as the jurors in that case did.
- TJ - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:51 pm:
Also, I have to say that it’s nice of the Freedom Caucus to out and out say that they believe that a county-wide portion of their electorate couldn’t possibly be impartial jurors. Those folks sure are doing a bang up job letting the world know how little they think of their own constituents.
- JLW - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 2:59 pm:
I am not suprised Mr. Tracy didn’t respond on the jurors. He makes his living as an officer of the court and answering that question would called into question this ethical standard from the rules of professional responsibility “A lawyer should
demonstrate respect for the legal system and for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers and public officials. While it is a lawyer’s duty, when necessary, to challenge the rectitude of official action, it is also a lawyer’s duty to uphold legal process.”
- Henry Francis - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:08 pm:
I remember a time when the GOP folks were downright militant about showing proper respect for the flag. Anything but the highest respect was considered unpatriotic.
If the flag was flown upside down, not to signal support to the Jan 6 crowd, but to retaliate against some offensive neighbors, I don’t understand how “Mrs. Alito” thought that flying the country’s flag upside down was a way to get back at them? Attack Biden, I could understand. But flying the national flag upside down, to me at least, is far more disrespectful to the country as a whole, and demonstrates a lack a patriotism.
- Excitable Boy - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:13 pm:
- He makes his living as an officer of the court -
Not so much.
- z3r0number - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:13 pm:
These are the same people who want to lock up Hunter Biden for having the last name Biden, right?
I honestly wish that the GA case was the one tried first since it’s way more important in the grand scheme of things (I don’t think the stolen documents case will ever make it to trial given Canon’s obvious stonewalling on Trump’s behalf).
==If JB Pritzker were tried in Clay County do you seriously think that would be a fair trial?==
So does that mean I can commit any crime I want in Red counties since as a Democrat, I will never be able to get a fair trial there?! Neat!
- RNUG - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:17 pm:
== Donald Trump will never be 47 ==
Maybe, maybe not.
As those of us that follow elections know, recent elections (2018 - 2022) have from 46% to 66% turnout per PEW.
I’ve been convinced for some time the next election is going to hinge on turnout. Will this drive a higher percentage of GOP turnout? That I don’t know.
As to the actual verdict, it’s a given there will be an appeal process, which will likely last beyond the November election.
What will be interesting to me is the actual sentence the Judge decides on. I suspect the level of severity will have an effect on voter turnout.
- JoanP - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:25 pm:
= Does anyone believe Trump didn’t sleep with these two women and then agreed to pay them off to buy their silence?
Anyone? =
That wasn’t the issue in the case, though. The issue was whether he falsified business records to conceal the pay-off.
Of course, I have no doubt that he did all these things.
- Norseman - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:26 pm:
We should be tired of saying that the MAGA GOP continues to lower the bar on decency, integrity …
Tearing down the institutions of America with lies and deception is not patriotic - at least not to this country. Putin and Xi appreciate your efforts.
- vern - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:29 pm:
Worth noting that neither the ILGOP nor the Freedom Caucus used the word “innocent.” They’re not arguing he did no crimes; they’re arguing he should be allowed to do crimes because he’s running for President.
It’s perfectly in line with their cash bail position: poor people should be held responsible for their crimes, but rich people shouldn’t. I guess it’s nice of Republicans to offer another option besides cash. Maybe every defendant who’s detained pretrial should run for President (as a Republican, of course).
- JS Mill - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:58 pm:
=Tearing down the institutions of America with lies and deception is not patriotic - at least not to this country. Putin and Xi appreciate your efforts.=
This is a real thing too. Putin has long known that russia is not up to the task of competing with the US or the west for that matter. He seeks to bring us down to his level by creating chaos and distrust. Trump was the perfect vessel for that effort.
=demonstrates a lack a patriotism.=
I am not one that feels that I have to endlessly make a public display of thanking veterans for there service. I hate anything contrived. That does not mean I don’t appreciate what they (my father included) have sacrificed for us, I do.
But the party that makes a huge display of it (it is just a performance) and the ones who went after Colin Kaepernick, wanted the amendment to ban the burning of the flag are now full throated in their disrespect for our nation. They support a man that has repeatedly disrespected our country and our veterans, even Gold Star Families.
They are hypocrites, nothing more.
- FormerParatrooper - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 3:59 pm:
Politics are humorous. Flying the Flag upside down is not. Right the Flag and make your political statements in a more respectful way. Too many families have received our Flag folded at funerals.
He had a trial, a jury said guilty. Now he appeals and another Court will determine if he had a fair trial or not. Did he sleep with those women and cover it up? Probably. He is hardly the first to do so or will be the last.
- Proud Sucker - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 4:07 pm:
To modify the statement just a bit: “The justice involved in many cases is a Republican and has a wife directly involved in Republican party politics.”
I think the Freedom Caucuses’ problem is with Clarence Thomas.
- that’s bettor - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 4:14 pm:
=iPhone terms of service agreements.=
I can’t think of a single person that has gotten around those. Maybe Apple should start administering the oath of office./s
To the Post: This isn’t going to go away and will haunt the ILGOP in every election for the rest of this map. It’s bad enough that they are ineffective at governing and fundraising, now they have zero chance of being on message unless that message is “but Trump.” Almost makes you miss the days of Because Madigan. Almost.
- ste_with a v_en - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 4:15 pm:
The Illinois GOP is content to never be taken seriously again.
- Pundent - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 4:17 pm:
Someday the ILGOP, Don Tracy, the Freedom Caucus and many, many others will have to admit they were played for fools. Today is not that day.
- Bigtwich - Friday, May 31, 24 @ 4:19 pm:
I do believe that Homer Township is in distress, just surprised the Supervisor admitted it.