Jury has reached a verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York

NEW YORK  — The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial has reached a verdict, signaling a highly anticipated culmination of the first criminal case against a former American president.

The verdict from the 12-person jury is expected to be delivered later Thursday in the Manhattan courtroom where prosecutors spent weeks presenting allegations that Trump participated in a hush money scheme aimed at suppressing stories he feared could be harmful to his 2016 presidential campaign.

The jury in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial resumed deliberations Thursday after revisiting portions of the judge’s instructions and rehearing testimony from multiple key witnesses about the alleged scheme at the heart of the history-making case.

The judge responded to a jury request by rereading 30 pages of jury instructions.

The 12-person jury, which deliberated for about 4 1/2 hours Wednesday without reaching a verdict, also reheard testimony Thursday morning from a tabloid publisher and Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer.

A guilty verdict would deliver a stunning legal reckoning for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as he seeks to reclaim the White House while an acquittal would represent a major win for him and embolden him on the campaign trail.

Since verdicts must be unanimous, it’s also possible the case ends in a mistrial if the jury can’t reach a consensus.

In a memo Wednesday evening, Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles blasted the proceedings as a “kangaroo court” and argued the case would not matter in November.

“The bottom line is this case doesn’t have an impact on voters,” they wrote.

Trump, who on Wednesday appeared to be priming supporters for the possibility of a guilty verdict by saying “Mother Teresa couldn’t bear these charges,” struck a pessimistic tone again Thursday.

“It’s all rigged. The whole thing, the whole system is rigged,” he said. It’s the same language he used to try to inoculate himself against losses in the 2020 presidential election and Iowa’s 2016 GOP primary.