Former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said former President Trump is preparing himself mentally for a guilty plea in his New York hush money case.
In reaction Wednesday to Trump fuming outside the courtroom that “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges, these charges are rigged, the whole thing is rigged,” Scaramucci said the former president is bracing his supporters and himself for a “potential” guilty plea.
“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,” Scaramucci said during his Wednesday 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 plea,” later adding, “If he gets off, then he’s better than Mother Teresa.”
Scaramucci’s comments come as the 12-person jury began deliberating in Trump’s first criminal case Wednesday morning. The jury, later Wednesday, made four requests to look over crucial pieces of testimony and asked to rehear Merchan’s instructions before adjourning for the day.
The former Trump administration official said Wednesday he believed Trump is “bummed out” because of the way he was moving his hands while speaking to reporters outside of the Manhattan courthouse.
“But if you see that accordion move that he’s doing right there, that’s a nervous tic of his,” Scaramucci said. “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.”
Trump is facing 34 felony charges regarding the reimbursements he made to his former fixer Michael Cohen after paying porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet about an alleged sexual affair. Trump has denied the alleged 2006 encounter and has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Scaramucci said Tuesday that Trump’s recent attacks against Merchan suggest he is “super nervous” about the verdict.
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