Jurors in Hunter Biden’s case went public, Jurors in Trump’s case don’t dare to
This sums up MAGA well
“My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury,” federal Judge Lewis Kaplan advised jurors after they had returned a verdict.
Was this comment made by the judge at the conclusion of a mob trial? One involving a terrorist? In some ways, yes to both. This was the warning the federal judge offered jurors in Donald Trump’s civil trial where earlier this year he was successfully sued by E. Jean Carroll for defamation. The reason was obvious: MAGA and Trump himself—if they found out the juror’s identity--would come after them and their family’s for revenge just as they had previously targeted judges, witnesses and jurors in Trump’s other cases.
To this day, we have not seen any of the jurors in Trump’s recent criminal case where he was convicted of 34 felonies—or his earlier civil cases with E. Jean Carroll—speak to the public. And it’s very unlikely in Trump’s upcoming criminal cases that any juror will speak to the press—especially given after Trump’s conviction in New York, MAGA operatives attempted to find out the juror’s names and vowed revenge against them. For example as NBC News reported, on a pro-Trump website comments about the jurors included, “We need to identify each juror. Then make them miserable. Maybe even suicidal,” while another wrote, “I hope every juror is doxxed and they pay for what they have done.”
In contrast, within hours after the jury convicted Hunter Biden of three felonies, the jurors were speaking to the media—some even sharing their name for publication. There was “Juror Number 10” who spoke live on MNSBC a few hours after the verdict about the case and deliberations. This same juror gave an extensive interview to CNN. While we didn’t see the juror’s face on MSNBC, we heard his voice and read some other details about him which--in a small state like Delaware where the trial took place—makes it very likely people could identify him.
Other Hunter Biden jurors spoke to ABC News—including a person described as a woman and “a 51-year-old juror” who stated that the case was "a waste of taxpayers' dollars.” One juror even went public with his name to ABC News, Elijah Lewis-Guy, who told the reporter about the case and Hunter, "Him being the son of the president just means that, once again, everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes,” but adding, “those mistakes can have serious consequences – not just for them but for everyone else."
Imagine a juror in Trump’s criminal trial going public with their name and saying Trump deserved to be convicted for his crimes?! There’s no doubt that juror would’ve been inundated with threats or worse by MAGA.
And it’s not just that the jurors themselves that would have to be concerned, but their family members as well. We saw this recently after Trump was convicted in New York when the family of key prosecution witness Michael Cohen had their addresses and phone numbers posted to a doxxing website. While on MSNBC, Cohen said his family had received "unwanted phone calls and emails and text messages" and Domino's pizzas they didn’t order were delivered to his building at around 11 p.m. on Sunday night.
Worse was what we saw after Michael Fanone, a former police officer nearly killed by Trump’s MAGA terrorists during the Jan. 6, spoke outside the courthouse during closing arguments in Donald Trump's hush money trial slamming Trump as "an authoritarian." Within hours of Fanone’s comments, a fake "manifesto" attributed to Fanone was sent by email to various people including some associated with a high school Fanone attended more than two decades ago. The "manifesto," as viewed by NBC News, claimed that the author had killed his mother and planned to go to the his former school Wednesday and shoot more people. It also provided Fanone's mother's home address.
In response, Fanone’s 78-year-old mother was “swatted,” meaning the police SWAT team came to her house to see if there was a shooting. As Fanone stated, his mother opened the door to law enforcement in her nightgown, "mortified" to find SWAT team officers at her home. Fanone rightfully angry, declared to NBC News: "How dangerous is it to send law enforcement to an address in which you essentially are describing an active shooter, in which the only person present is a 78-year-old f---ing woman." He then offered his own warning, "This is the reality of going up against or challenging Donald Trump.”
This is what Trump wants. His goal is to radicalize and prime his base for violence on his behalf. From there, they know what Trump wants of them and they are all too happy to spring into action to defend him. The list of such MAGA terrorism is long from threatening a judge with death as in the Jan 6 case, to releasing the names, photographs and home addresses on pro-Trump websites of the grand jurors in Fulton County, Georgia who voted to indict Trump to a Trump supporter violently attacking an FBI field office after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence.
What don’t we see in response to this criminal conduct by Trump supporters targeting those who seek to hold Trump accountable?! Trump denouncing or condemning their actions. That is by design. In fact, we’ve seen the opposite since Trump’s Jan 6 terrorist attack on the Capitol intended to keep him in power despite losing the 2020 election. Trump has defended his Jan 6 attackers as “hostages” and “political prisoners,” vowing to pardon them.
Even more alarming is that over the past year, Trump has increasingly celebrated these MAGA terrorists. Convicted felon Trump now opens rallies with a rendition of the Star-Spangled banner sung by those who committed the Jan 6 attack, known as the “J6 prison choir.” “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages," the announcer tells the audience as the MAGA faithful are conditioned to honor those who attempted his coup the same way Adolph Hitler had his loyalists honor those who waged his failed coup in 1923 known as the Beer Hall Putsch.
And just this past weekend at a rally, Trump increased his praise for the Jan 6 attackers, now describing them this way, “Those J6 warriors — they were warriors.” Trump understands that the word “warrior” is for those who wage war and violence for a cause. He is now telling his supporters he wants “warriors” and if they do wage war for him, if he wins, he will pardon them.
This is where we are in 2024, faced with a violent, anti-democratic MAGA movement that controls one major political party. All of this reminds us of the stakes November. There will only be one winner. Will it be MAGA or our democratic Republic? It’s up to us.
What I found interesting is the sympathy the Hunter jurors found for Biden as the depths of his addiction were brought out in such detail. They still convicted because he did what he was charged with doing, but they seemed to recognize what put him in the situation. If ever a trump juror comes out with a memoir, I doubt we will find a whole lot of sympathy for trump.
These people are despicable.