Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director for Donald Trump, stated that the former president is “preparing himself mentally for a potential guilty (verdict)” in his Manhattan hush money trial.
Scaramucci revealed his thoughts to The Hill following an incident where Trump was caught fuming outside the courtroom Wednesday as the jury began deliberations. The former president claimed that Mother Teresa, referring to the late Catholic saint, could not beat the charges filed against him.
Trump also alleged that the 34 counts against him are trumped up, and that the whole trial is also rigged. Scaramucci, who described Trump as “super nervous” about the trial, noted that the former president was actually bracing himself and his supporters for a “potential” plea of guilt.
“I’m pretty confident that his lawyers have instructed him that the way the jury was instructed by Judge [Juan] Merchan is going to be very tough for them not to come back with some guilty plea on several of those 34 counts,” he said during an appearance on “The Hill on NewsNation,” “And so I think he’s preparing his base, and he’s preparing himself mentally for a potential guilty (verdict).”
The comments of Trump’s former communications director came as the jury started to deliberate on the first criminal case against a former president, The Hill reported. Scaramucci also described Trump as “bummed out” because of the manner that he moved his hands while he was speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
“But if you see that accordion move that he’s doing right there, that’s a nervous tic of his,” Scaramucci said of Trump’s hand movements. “And so, when he gets upset, he always goes to the accordion move and so that that’s a tell that he’s bummed out.”
Aol reported that the possibility of the former president having a criminal record relies on the hands of 12 jurors who have a verdict sheet plus a laptop that is full of exhibits coming from the deliberations. Out of the twelve, seven were man and five were women. In addition, majority of the jurors have white collar jobs. Two men are lawyers and three other men have finance backgrounds.
Before the start of the deliberations on Trump’s case, jurors were asked to surrender their cellphones to the safe-keeping of court officers. They are forbidden from using sources outside the court and all 12 must agree on the final verdict to avoid a hung jury and a potential mistrial.