Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) likened the Trump business records trial to the “sham trial” methods used by the old Soviet Union against “political opponents.”
CNN reported that Judge Merchan instructed jurors that they “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.”
“Judge in Trump case in NYC just told jury they don’t have to unanimously agree on which crime was committed as long as they all at least pick one,” Rubio wrote in his post on X. “And that among the crimes they can pick from are ones Trump WASN’T EVEN CHARGED WITH!!! This is exactly the kind of sham trial used against political opponents of the regime in the old Soviet Union.”
Republican Senator from Florida Marco Rubio speaks during a rally in support of Republican gubernatorial incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in Hialeah, Fla. DeSantis will face U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist in November. (AP Photo/Gaston De Cardenas)
During the mid-to-late 1930s, under dictator Joseph Stalin’s control, the Soviet Union conducted “show trials” during the “Great Purge.” These trials were “clearly staged events,” where accused individuals “admitted to being traitors and spies,” according to History.com.
“Later, historians discovered that the defendants agreed to these forced confessions only after being interrogated, threatened, and tortured,” the outlet added.
Other Republican Party members, including entrepreneur and former GOP 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), have referred to the Trump trial as a “sham.”
On May 14, Ramaswamy, joined by Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), and Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Cory Mills (R-FL), held a press conference outside the Trump business records trial.
“This is a sham. This is not the United States of America. This is some third-rate banana republic,” Ramaswamy declared during his speech. “If this were happening in another country, we would be laughing at them as a sham democracy.”
Ramaswamy added that he was “ashamed as an American citizen” to witness what was transpiring in the trial.
