MAGA Could Save Donald Trump's Legal Case: Jury Expert

One "MAGA supporter" could ensure former President Donald Trump isn't convicted in his hush-money criminal trial if they get on the jury regardless of "how much evidence the prosecution brings to bear," according to one legal expert.

Trump has pled not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to claims he orchestrated the payment of $130,000 in hush money, ahead of the 2016 presidential election, for Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star, to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual relationship. The former president has consistently denied Daniels' claim that they slept together in 2006, or any criminal wrongdoing.

Ahead of the trial due to begin on Monday, Texas-based jury consultant Robert Swafford, told Newsweek a conviction would require a unanimous jury and thus could be blocked by one passionate Trump-supporting juror.

The founder of Strike for Cause Jury Consultants said: "If one true believer, a MAGA supporter, manages to get on the jury, then it won't matter how much evidence the prosecution brings to bear. That juror will sit there until kingdom come and say not guilty. And that juror will derail the case because a verdict must be unanimous in a criminal trial."

The jury consultant noted both the defense and prosecutors would scrutinize possible jurors for signs of bias, but warned this may prove impossible to detect.

"I'm sure that both legal teams are doing research on the prospective jurors' social media accounts, their voting records, any prior criminal convictions, and credit histories—everything that can be searched in a database," said Swafford. "But at the end of the day, if someone scrubbed their social media or their activity on internet forums, those online trails become very hard to find. If someone simply denies they have certain biases, that is even more difficult to disprove."

He concluded: "If the prosecution is not able to sniff out every single one of the true believers for Trump, the people who aren't going to care what the law and the facts are, then they could easily end up with a hung jury and have to try this case again."

Newsweek has contacted the prosecuting Manhattan District Attorney's office and Donald Trump representatives, by telephone and email respectively, outside of usual working hours. This article will be updated if either wishes to comment.

Lawyer Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, agreed that selecting jurors will be a major challenge for the judge.

Speaking to Newsweek, he said: "Jury selection alone will be challenging because everyone knows Trump and has an opinion about him. Judge [Juan] Merchan may have to go through hundreds of potential jurors to find 12 who can be fair and impartial."

Rahmani also said the hush money case was the least serious of the four criminal cases Trump is facing, and he's unlikely to be sentenced to prison if convicted.

The lawyer commented: "Even if Trump is convicted, I don't expect him to receive a jail sentence. Of all his criminal cases, the charges in New York are the least serious.

"Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor unless [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg's office can prove they were in furtherance of another crime or to cover up another crime."

In a letter sent to both the prosecution and defense on April 8, Judge Merchan listed 42 questions he agreed each prospective juror would be asked before the selection was made. These included questions about what publications they read and if they had attended pro or anti-Trump rallies. But potential jurors won't be asked about their voting history or whether they have made any financial campaign contributions.

Trump is also facing criminal prosecution over allegations he mishandled classified documents, then obstructed their return to the relevant authorities, and attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, both nationwide and in the state of Georgia specifically. He has pled not guilty to all charges and has insisted the cases against him are politically motivated.