--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- John Bickley: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- John Bickley: A New York jury finds former President Trump guilty on 34 felony counts. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Friday, May 31st, and this is Morning Wire. What's next for the former president and could he serve jail time? A top legal analyst breaks down the historic and controversial verdict.
--:-- John Bickley: I expect that the American people will rally around President Trump because they see that he is now the underdog, that this is a miscarriage of justice, that if it could happen to President Trump, it could happen to you, it could happen to me. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned.
--:-- [Sound effects: Upbeat music starts playing]
--:-- John Bickley: Black Rifle Coffee is a veteran-founded company that's doing their part to honor the last of the greatest generation who fought at D-Day while they're still here with us. Co-founder Evan Hafer and his team will parachute into Normandy in World War II uniforms with a series of jumps from June 4th to June 6th. A portion of every purchase you make at BlackRifleCoffee.com goes to support veteran and first responder causes.
--:-- John Bickley: The verdict is in and Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts brought against him in his New York City hush money trial. In a dramatic moment, the jury had been set to leave for the day late Thursday when suddenly the announcement came that a verdict had been reached.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the first time a former president has ever been found guilty of a crime is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey, John. So first, can you walk us through those last hectic moments yesterday in court?
--:-- John Bickley: Morning, John. It was truly stunning. Judge Juan Marchand had announced that court was going to be done for the day, but jurors wanted a little extra time. And honestly, within about 15 minutes, they announced that they had reached their decision and hardly had the whiplash been felt before word came that one after another, the jury had found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts, which potentially could lead to years in prison.
--:-- David Marcus: So once the verdict was in, what did Mershon do in terms of Trump's status between now and sentencing? And when could that sentencing happen?
--:-- John Bickley: Trump was able to leave the courthouse as usual and under the same conditions, basically, that he had during the trial. He offered a short, somber statement. We didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man. And it's OK. I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now.
--:-- David Marcus: And to your second question, sentencing is set for July 11th which just happens to be four days before the Republican National Convention is set to commence. And of course, John, Trump's legal team has promised to appeal the decision.
--:-- John Bickley: Right Now, meanwhile the Trump campaign is out with a new ad about the trial and its allegations of lawfare against the former president taking specific aim at Alvin Bragg. Is this how we can expect the campaign to use this conviction going forward?
--:-- David Marcus: Yes. Expect the Trump camp to continue banging this argument that the trial was politically motivated. Here's a taste of that new ad, and it's not subtle. This is the Democrats' entire strategy to confine President Trump to a dirty criminal courtroom and keep him off the campaign trail where he can bring his winning message to voters across this country.
--:-- John Bickley: New York has become a legal banana republic. They are so determined to get Donald Trump. Look, convicting Donald Trump, that's all they have. I think they have no cards. And they're depending upon Trump getting convicted. That Trump train doesn't show any signs of slowing down. The only verdict that matters is the verdict at the ballot box.
--:-- David Marcus: The ad does two important things for the Trump campaign. First, it argues strongly that the whole trial was a biased mess and voters should ignore the finding of guilt. But also, this undermines or at least competes with the Biden campaign's number one issue, which is that Trump is supposedly a threat to democracy.
--:-- John Bickley: Before these questionable criminal cases, Biden had that argument all to himself, and polling showed that Americans did view Trump as the greater threat to democracy. That has been changing, and the gap has narrowed. So the one issue, other than maybe abortion, where Biden had a big edge, that could be neutralized.
--:-- David Marcus: So where does that leave Biden's messaging on the trial? Well, President Biden had planned a White House speech to respond when the verdict dropped. But after the shambolic Robert De Niro press conference, which had many observers saying it was politicizing the trial, the exact argument Trump is making in the ad we just talked about, they 86 the live speech in favor of a rather anodyne statement, which read, quote, in New York today, we saw that no one is above the law and quote, and accusing Trump of supposedly believing that he could break the law with impunity.
--:-- John Bickley: The statement went on to stress that despite the conviction, Trump will be the Republican candidate and rang the saving democracy bell again. According to recent reporting in The Hill, there is debate in Biden world over how hard to hit that Trump is a felon line. We'll know sooner rather than later where they land on that.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, meanwhile, we've just witnessed history and I think a lot of people are just processing the momentous nature of this decision. Dave, thanks for reporting.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: Up next, a legal expert breaks down the unprecedented verdict. Dream Powder, then go to ShopBeam.com slash wire and use code wire at checkout for up to 40% off. That's ShopBeam.com slash wire and use code wire for up to 40% off.
--:-- John Bickley: The political and legal implications of the Trump verdict are far-reaching. Joining now to unpack some of that for us is Roger Severino, former DOJ civil rights attorney and vice president of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation.
--:-- Roger Severino: Thank you for joining us.
--:-- John Bickley: A very controversial verdict here. You've made clear that you find this case extremely problematic and your view is held by many legal experts and many American voters. So we wanted to give some time here to lay out your legal perspective. First, what do you make of the 34 guilty verdicts?
--:-- Roger Severino: It was expected because the deck was stacked against President Trump from the beginning. You had a politicized prosecutor bringing a politicized case before a politicized judge and a politicized jury in New York. This was from the beginning meant to be a sham trial, so we shouldn't be surprised in the least by the railroaded verdict.
--:-- John Bickley: We should mourn for our country because we have crossed a line. We now have to fight for our constitution because we've now wandered into banana republic territory where we have our political differences being settled in a jury box instead of a ballot box. And this is a scary moment for our country because we are better than this.
--:-- Roger Severino: But this is what election interference actually looks like, an attempt to take away the voice of the people by trying to jail political opponents. What comes next? Could Did Trump actually serve jail time?
--:-- John Bickley: It's possible. It's within the judge's discretion to send him to jail now. But he didn't let him go to release a statement. But these were 34 felony counts, which never would have been brought if the defendant's name were not Donald J. Trump. This is a miscarriage of justice.
--:-- Roger Severino: Now, President Trump has defied gravity on the sham impeachment charges and now these sham trials. It may end up actually boosting its popularity. But it's very difficult to run a campaign if he's actually put in jail. So the real question is, is this biased judge going to take that next step and deal with the revocations that come with that?
--:-- John Bickley: Again, this is a scary moment for our republic. This never should have happened. And you're going to see the American public, I believe, react very negatively to this gross abuse of process.
--:-- Roger Severino: How many years does Trump potentially face and how many do you actually think would be handed down if Mershon goes that route? It could be for years. Each felony count is minimum one year, and there were 34 of them. So they have this sort of Damocles hanging over his head, and it's designed to try to break the man.
--:-- John Bickley: The $450 million civil judgment, when there were no victims for alleged bank fraud, when banks were never harmed, was meant to break the man. To have him sit in a trial for weeks was meant to take him off of the campaign trail. If he were not running for president, none of this would have happened.
--:-- Roger Severino: And the left is so deathly afraid that the American public will reject the Biden agenda, which is unpopular, and bring this man back to office. And part of his promise is to restore the justice system because it has been weaponized. He said that this is a fight for our constitution and that the real work is November 5th. And I think he is absolutely right.
--:-- John Bickley: Do you believe this case will be ripe for an appeal?
--:-- Roger Severino: Oh, absolutely. Judge Marchand made so many legal errors. He threw the Constitution out the window and said that the jury could find Donald Trump guilty without settling on the underlying crime. There could be three different crimes he's guilty of, and none of them had to be held unanimously by this jury.
--:-- John Bickley: We have constitutional protections, meaning every count has to be ruled on unanimously by a jury. And we have this benefit of the doubt for defendants. That's what makes our system great. We give the benefit of the doubt. And yet this was all throughout the window. The judge was quite biased from the beginning. He always ruled in favor of the prosecution, excluded witnesses that could have walked through and show how election law was not implicated. And then those jury instructions. Oh, my.
--:-- Roger Severino: You have so many legal errors that Trump has such a strong case, it will be appealed quickly. And then ultimately, if needed, the Supreme Court weighs in and puts an end to this nonsense about what would the appeals process look like and can the Supreme Court intervene?
--:-- John Bickley: Ultimately, yes. There are constitutional arguments that his right to a fair trial was violated, and the Constitution means something. It means, if anything, you cannot jail political opponents because you don't like what the American people are going to vote for. And ultimately, I think the Supreme Court, if he doesn't win on appeal, will take this up in reverse. This is a political prosecution. We are better than this as a country, and this cannot stand.
--:-- Roger Severino: There are steps in between. We'll see if there'll be expedited so we can exhaust the initial appeal. But because of the urgency of the matter, we have November 5th as an election. There's a prospect that he could go to jail in the middle of the campaign season. This is unprecedented. All of this is uncharted territory.
--:-- John Bickley: How do you believe this will ultimately affect Trump in the polls and his messaging on the campaign trail?
--:-- Roger Severino: I think the American people can smell fishy business. They know that this judge was biased. They know that the trial was biased. They know the prosecution was a sham and 34 counts of felonies for what? Who are the victims here? There was no victim that was ever put on the stand. Michael Cohen, the star witness, convicted felon, he was the one who brought it home for the prosecution, but they couldn't point to any victim.
--:-- John Bickley: And the American people are going to see right through this. And I think if anything, President Trump's popularity should increase because the American people have had enough with the weaponization of the justice system. If it could happen to him, it could happen to any of us.
--:-- Roger Severino: What about how this impacts Trump's actual ability to campaign? What do we see in the coming weeks in terms of this case?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, the judge didn't immediately put him into jail, which at least showed a little bit of respect, but that's up in the air. We don't know what's going to happen with sentencing and jail could be in the offing. He could win from jail. That's a possibility.
--:-- Roger Severino: It would be shameful if this judge were to order this man to go to jail when they weren't able to point to any victims. This is so shocking and unprecedented that we're even discussing the possibility of pulling political opponents in jail in the middle of an election. I don't know what's going to happen, but what everyone thinks about President Trump politically, I think the American people will realize that this is not plain fair.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, Roger, we've crossed the Rubicon here, the first ever criminal verdict against a former president. Thank you so much for coming on.
--:-- Roger Severino: You're welcome. Thank you very much.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Roger Severino, former DOJ civil rights attorney and vice president of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation. Thank you for listening this morning. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and stand with that mission, consider subscribing, giving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
--:-- [Sound effects: Upbeat music starts playing]
--:-- John Bickley: New Sprint 3 razor for a quick clean shave. The new razors feature top to bottom redesign. Enjoy an ergonomic handle designed for superior durability. The new coated stainless steel blades are sharper so they last longer. Increased flexibility allows the razor to better contour to your face to reduce nicks and cuts. Plus, the lubricating strip is now equipped with argan oil and aloe. It's time to toss out that woke razor and get yourself a Precision 5 or Sprint 3 trial kit today. Pledge to fight the left and build a future with Jeremy's Razors. Go to jeremysrazors.com and order yours today.
