Donald Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, said the legal team was already expecting a guilty verdict, but was “very surprised” when it was announced that a verdict had been reached in the former US president's secret trial on Thursday. (30).
But Blanche clarified that “it wasn't surprising like 'Oh my God, I'm shocked'” because they were already prepared for the outcome.
“When it was 4:30 p.m. [horário local]we were going to go home and start again tomorrow, and then the jury, you know, sent out a note that they had reached a verdict,” Blanche told Kaitlan Collins of CNN .
Trump reportedly told people he believed it would be a hung jury, and although Blanche said they “were fighting to win the case, of course, but a hung jury would have been as close to a victory as possible.”
“But we were prepared for a conviction. I think that was to be expected,” Blanche added.
Trump is the first former president of the United States to be convicted in a criminal case. Trump's verdict was read this Thursday (30), in New York Court, and brought together 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records — all of which he was found guilty of by a jury in Manhattan.
In addition to the criminal sphere, Trump is also responsible for civil lawsuits, involving sexual misconduct, defamation and corporate fraud.
(With information from Kaanita Iyer and Maria Clara Matos, from CNN )
Source: CNN Brasil
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