In an interview this week on the occasion of former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial kicking off in a New York City court, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — known as part of essentially the “MAGA” wing of the GOP — begged for an acquittal.
“My plea is to the people of Manhattan that may sit on his trial,” Donalds said in interview footage highlighted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by journalist Aaron Rupar. “Please do the right thing for this country. Everybody’s allowed to have their political viewpoints, but the law is supposed to be blind and no respecter of persons. This is a trash case. There is no crime here. And if there is any potential for a verdict, they should vote ‘not guilty.'”
Donalds showed little to no apparent hesitation around directly engaging with the core elements of the case against Trump, which accuses the ex-president of falsifying business records in connection with hush money from before the 2016 elections that went to Stormy Daniels. Donalds’ commentary — inherently highly public, considering his role as a member of Congress — seems to run up against the obvious concerns of shielding jurors from outside influence, concerns that already produced a gag order on Trump in this criminal case about which the former president is still characteristically furious.
Trump’s team failed in a series of attempts leading up to the trial’s scheduled start this Monday at getting it delayed, tying one such ploy to an effort at moving where it would take place. Trump’s team has also fallen short so far in their ambitions of pushing presiding Judge Juan Merchan from the proceedings, citing claimed conflicts stemming from purported political activities of a daughter of his. As jury selection gets moving Monday, Trump and his team will be under strict restrictions on distributing identifying details of process participants.
