(Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)
Just minutes after lowering expectations for acquittal, former President Donald Trump offered a unique defense in his hush money trial: ignorance of what the charges are.
Trump left the courtroom Wednesday morning for a break; he turned to the same assembled reporters that he ignored on the way into the trial earlier Wednesday morning and lamented that “Mother Theresa could not beat these charges,” which came across as yet another complaint about what he deems a “rigged trial” and not some admission of guilt.
Minutes later, however, Trump took to Truth Social and claimed complete ignorance of what he was charged with:
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CHARGES ARE IN THIS RIGGED CASE—I AM ENTITLED TO SPECIFICITY JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE. THERE IS NO CRIME!
It’s a curious thing to admit that he doesn’t know what the charges are in this rigged case, seeing as he was ordered by the court to sit in the courtroom throughout the roughly five weeks of the trial. For the record, he has been indicted for 34 felonious counts of falsifying records in hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, which has been presented by the prosecution as violations of federal election regulations.
If the ignorance is bliss approach to his defense seems familiar, it might be because it’s an oft-heard refrain by various hosts and pundits on Fox News, many of whom openly say that they “don’t know what the crime even is” or some variant of the form.
“Ignorantia juris non excusat” is a Latin phrase that roughly translates to “ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.” It is a legal principle that states, “A person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely by being unaware of its content.”
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