After giving brief remarks on his way out of court on Thursday following the guilty verdict in his New York business records trial, Donald Trump formally addressed the media on Friday.
He continued to blast the trial as “rigged” but said he is “willing to do whatever I have to do to save our country.” That includes, he noted, appealing the guilty verdict.
On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Mark Geragos to discuss the appeal process and what comes next for Trump legally.
Trump Signals Appeal
Trump held a press conference – in which he didn’t take questions – at Trump Tower on Friday. Speaking before a backdrop of American flags, the presumptive Republican nominee said he is “honored” by the legal battle he is facing because “we’re fighting for our Constitution.”
The former president declared himself a “very innocent man” after a New York City jury convicted him of 34 criminal charges related to falsifying business records in a ‘scheme’ to influence the 2016 presidential election.
He called the verdict a “scam” that he is prepared to fight. “We’re going to be appealing this scam,” he said. “The judge was a tyrant.” Trump said his defense team would appeal “on several things,” including allegations that he was blocked from calling key witnesses.
The Appeal Process
Megyn has made it clear that she believes Trump will ultimately get his conviction overturned, though it will not be resolved before the 2024 election. “I just don’t see any way this this doesn’t ultimately get resolved by an appellate court, whether it is the New York State Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court,” she said. “But none of that matters because the election will take place.”
As one of the foremost appellate attorneys in the country, Megyn asked Dershowitz what the next steps look like for the Trump defense team. “He should make an appeal to the New York Court of Appeals asking them to bypass the Appellate Division because he is not going to get justice in the Appellate Division,” Dershowitz explained. “The Appellate Division are Manhattan judges that are elected, and they don’t want to have to face their families and say they were the judge who will allow Trump to become the next president United States.”
In bypassing the Appellate Division, Dershowitz said the Trump team should “go to the New York Court of Appeals and ask for an expedited appeal.” In the meantime, they should also “prepare for an expedited appeal in the United States Supreme Court.”
The argument: “Say that this was a rush to try to get this verdict, a conviction, before the election, and the Supreme Court of the United States has an obligation to review this case before the election so that the American public knows whether or not Donald Trump is guilty or not guilty of these made up crimes,” he said.
In his view, this situation is “worse” than Lavrentiy Beria’s infamous “show me the man and I’ll find you the crime” boast because Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “tried to find the crime, but he couldn’t because his predecessor couldn’t find the crime, the U.S. attorney couldn’t find the crime, and the FEC couldn’t find the crime.”
What happened next, Dershowitz said, was “worse than what happened” in the Soviet Union. “He made up a crime that didn’t exist and he charged a political opponent with it,” he concluded. “This will create a terrible precedent for how local DAs will become involved in trying to influence not only local elections but national elections as well.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Dershowitz and Geragos by tuning in to episode 807 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.