Fox News star Sean Hannity, who is not a lawyer, continues to opine on the Donald Trump criminal trial in Manhattan where the former President was charged with 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business documents as part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information prior to the 2016 election. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has posted all 34 counts with references to evidence online.
Despite the public record, Trump continues to repeat the false narrative that he doesn’t know what he’s being charged with, and conservative political pundits including Hannity are echoing his false claims about not knowing the charges.
NOTE: When Trump was arraigned in Manhattan on April 4, 2023, Judge Juan Merchan asked the defendant, as per protocol and law, “Do you understand these charges?” and Trump replied: “Yes.”
Here’s a glimpse of how Hannity is presenting the trial to his viewers pic.twitter.com/6ueS065t0G
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 30, 2024
This week on Fox News, Hannity quoted the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution — “the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against you” — and made the claim that “the prosecution never answered these questions and now the judge is allowing the jury to choose pretty much their own adventure — pick whatever crime works for you.”
Trump just sat through four weeks of a trial where he heard his accusers (the District Attorney’s office) provide evidence to the judge and jury — including business ledgers with handwritten notes from his former CFO who is currently in prison and checks that Trump signed.
Merchan on Wednesday also spent more than an hour reading the jury instructions on the law and repeating specific charges in the case, including each of the 34 counts Trump faces.
Political pundit Brian Tyler Cohen responded to the Hannity clip: “You will never find anyone who treats their audience like bigger morons than Sean Hannity does.”