Today is Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Today the judge overseeing the first and only Drumpf trial to be conducted before the critical 2024 presidential election delivered his instructions to the jurors before they began their deliberations in this case. The details of what Judge Juan Merchan told the jurors is covered in an online CNN article by Antoinette Radford entitled “Read the jury instructions from Judge Juan Merchan in the Trump hush money trial.”

Here’s what Merchan instructed the jury:

• “They must not make a decision based on biases or stereotypes;
• They must set aside personal differences;
• They must not speculate about how long a potential sentence may be or what the punishment might be – that’s up to the judge;
• They can’t hold it against Trump for not testifying (even though I definitely would)
• The ‘people must prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime.’ He reminds the jury it must not rest its verdict on speculation;
• They can consider whether a witness hopes to receive a benefit related to the trial, or if they have an interest in how the case ends;
• They cannot convict Trump on Michael Cohen’s testimony alone because he’s an accomplice, but they can use his evidence if corroborated with other evidence;
• The jury must be unanimous if they find Trump guilty on each count – on whether he committed the crime personally, acted in concert with others or both;
• They must determine if Trump conspired to promote someone or prevent them from public office by unlawful means;
• They should deliberate with a view toward reaching an agreement, without surrendering individual judgement;
• The foreperson will deliver the verdict for each count after deliberations are over;
• Jurors’ notes cannot be used in place of evidence;
• Jurors must surrender their phones and can only discuss the case when all 12 of them are together.”

Merchan also explained what makes a person guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree – explaining that they must have the intent to defraud – including the intent to commit another crime or conceal the commission of one.

Today the jury sent a four-part note to the judge requesting information about a series of communications involving former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, including his direct communications with the Orange Turd, about aspects of the “catch and kill” conspiracy (to pay for and suppress negative stories about Trump) to benefit his campaign. Legal experts are weighing in and reading the tea leaves, so to speak, and saying that this request is an ominous sign for the former president.

Thus this jury of 7 men and 5 women appears to be taking its role and its position in history very seriously, as it deliberates over the fate of a former president.

In the meantime, the jury’s verdict could serve to upend the 2024 presidential race – or it might not, given the extreme craziness of those who support the Orange Turd. Many of them could be unmoved by a conviction in this case. But so many others who were still considering voting for the douchebag have said they would reconsider if he’s convicted. So let’s see what happens. I’m biting my nails in anticipation here of a guilty verdict.

Of course, saying something outrageous and inane is expected from the Orange Menace, and today, he sure delivered, when he stated this to reporters outside of the courthouse: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged.” Not only did he blaspheme the image of Mother Teresa, who is deceased, he indicated his impression that he will indeed be found guilty by this New York jury.

Today did not proceed as smoothly as expected, as I got entangled with a tech specialist (who probably wasn’t) on MSN to fix the bug in my msn email. For the last day or so, I could not sign into my MSN mail account and I decided to call the company. I usually go to my comic bookstore on Wednesdays, but today, I was enmeshed in a two-hour conversation with this “representative” who confused and discombobulated me to no end. Only toward the end of this sham did I lose my cool, especially when the “representative” asked me too many personal questions about my bank account and passwords to my account. He claimed I was entitled to some $250 refund from the company for something I don’t know what, and this triggered my suspicious nature, so I started to shout into the phone, and the “representative” just clicked off.

So I did not reveal this personal information to this “tech specialist,” or whoever he was. That did not stop me from going to my bank to check to see if something untoward happened to my accounts. Whooo! Everything seemed copacetic. However, my banking assistant suggested I change account passwords, but I decided this was not necessary yet. I was locked out of my Citibank Mobile account, but that had more to do with my typing the wrong password at home than my data having been compromised, so I called the customer service number and I was immediately unlocked from my account. Nothing had changed, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

I’m writing about my harrowing experience here to warn others not to be conned into giving away bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, and other personal and financial data to would-be scammers. We have to be very cautious when calling up supposedly legitimate entities that are obviously not. It’s very unfortunate that we have to be very wary of someone asking for this kind of information for no good reason. The upshot of my two-hour wasted conversation with this purported scammer is that I repaired the issue myself after I returned from my comic book store later in the afternoon. I just typed MSN in my Google Chrome browser and went to my email folder. Now I was able to open my junk emails with no issue. The problem was eventually solved – by me. Not by the fake MSN.

Stay safe and be well.