As the jury concluded its first day of deliberations in Donald Trump’s trial in New York, the former president said Wednesday it’s still unclear what criminal statute he violated.
The jurors reportedly deliberated for more than four hours and were dismissed after asking for portions of the testimony from two witnesses and at least some of Judge Juan Merchan’s instructions to be read back to them.
"The confusion is, nobody knows what the crime is because there's no crime," Trump said in a statement outside the Manhattan courthouse after the jury was dismissed. "Nobody knows what the crime is. The DA [Democrat Alvin Bragg] didn't name the crime.
"They don't know what the crime is. That's what the problem is. It's a disgrace. This thing ought to be ended immediately. The judge ought to end it and save his reputation."
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover a $130,000 payment made by his former attorney Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. It is the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
Prosecutors waited until closing arguments Tuesday — after the defense rested its case and could not respond — to disclose the underlying crime was violating federal campaign-finance law, which the state of New York has no jurisdiction to enforce. Only federal agencies such as the Department of Justice and Federal Elections Commission can enforce such violations, and both refused to prosecute Trump.