Donald J. Trump’s lawyers have tried just about everything to overturn his criminal conviction in New York.
They invoked the fine print of a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. They argued the case would obstruct “the overwhelming national mandate granted to him” on Election Day. They even tried to move it to federal court, accusing the state court judge who presided over the trial of bias.
Now, Mr. Trump’s lawyers are taking a new tack: undermining the jury that convicted him.
In a letter to the judge that was unsealed on Tuesday, Mr. Trump’s lawyers claimed to have uncovered “evidence of grave juror misconduct during the trial,” in which he was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. “The jury in this case was not anywhere near fair and impartial,” Mr. Trump’s lawyers asserted.
But the nature of any misconduct that they are claiming occurred is unclear. The letter and several related replies from prosecutors — all of which were exchanged behind the scenes in recent days — are heavily redacted. And the identify of the purported whistle-blower who raised the accusation is secret.
In a statement, a spokesman for Mr. Trump implied that a juror may have expressed some political leanings during the trial, contending that “partisan political motivations infected nearly every aspect of this witch hunt, including the jury room.”
But like Mr. Trump’s other maneuvers to throw out his 34 felony-count conviction, this too, is a long shot.
For one thing, the whistle-blower appears to have backed away. The person did not sign a sworn statement for Mr. Trump’s lawyers and disputed the defense’s characterizations of the purported misconduct, according to a filing from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Mr. Trump.
That defense’s recitation of the accusations “contains inaccuracies,” the whistle-blower said, according to the filing.
The judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, also cast doubt on the claims, calling them “admittedly contested.”
In an order this week, Justice Merchan announced that he would not consider the accusation as he weighs Mr. Trump’s request to throw out the case in the wake of the election. The judge noted that Mr. Trump’s lawyers did not obtain a sworn statement from the person who raised the accusation, and the lawyers opposed holding a hearing to explore the evidence.
“Allegations of juror misconduct should be thoroughly investigated,” Justice Merchan wrote in a letter to the defense and prosecutors. “However, this court is prohibited from deciding such claims on the basis of mere hearsay and conjecture.”
Even so, the claim is not entirely dead. When Mr. Trump appeals his conviction, he is likely to cite the accusation, and his lawyers might try to substantiate it.
But for now, it was the latest blow to Mr. Trump’s bid to wipe out his criminal record before returning to the White House.
A federal judge has already rejected Mr. Trump’s effort to move the case to federal court, though Mr. Trump is appealing that ruling. And on Monday, Justice Merchan rejected the former and future president’s argument that the recent Supreme Court ruling granting presidents broad immunity for “official acts” had nullified the case.
Citing a portion of the high court’s decision that prohibited prosecutors from introducing evidence involving official acts even in a case about private misconduct, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that testimony from former White House employees had contaminated the verdict.
Justice Merchan was unpersuaded, concluding that the testimony centered on Mr. Trump’s unofficial conduct.
And even if the evidence was “admitted in error, such error was harmless,” he added, noting the “overwhelming evidence of guilt” introduced at trial.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump assailed the judge on social media, calling him “incompetent” and his ruling “psychotic.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Trump has asked Justice Merchan to throw out the jury’s verdict in light of his electoral victory. The judge could rule in the coming days.
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