was able to talk to experienced Washington Post legal reporter Devlin Barrett in New York.
Risto Mattila,
Daniel Olin
17:34•Updated 17:40
Devlin Barrett is one of the former president Donald Trump the so-called about journalists following the bribery trial. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning legal reporter for the traditional and respected Washington Post daily newspaper.
As an American journalist, he is rare in that he knows Finnish. Language skills were accumulated when Barrett was an exchange student decades ago in Lievestuorei, Central Finland.
The ongoing trial in New York will change its meaning if Trump is found guilty of even one charge, Barrett thinks.
– That would make him a criminal. The verdict would confirm that he is exactly the kind of person many say he is. And this would happen at the same time as he is campaigning for the election.
According to Barrett, this would be very damaging to the election campaign.
What has surprised you in this trial?
– Well, first of all, defensive tactics. The defense has presented arguments that are not necessarily in Trump’s favor. It is also surprising that (Trump’s ex-lawyer) Michael Cohen rose to star witness status. However, he has told a lot of lies and behaved strangely many times.
A 12-member jury has retired to consider whether Trump is guilty of the criminal charges brought against him.
The jury has no time limit for making a decision. The consideration may take hours, days or several weeks.
The jury’s decision to convict or acquit Trump must be unanimous. Otherwise, the matter will not be resolved, in which case there could be a retrial.