Pessimism growing in Trump's inner circle that a hush money guilty verdict is inevitable

In a deep dive into how the Manhattan hush money trial is affecting Donald Trump emotionally, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman is reporting that members of Trump's inner circle are starting to accept that he will be found guilty.

As Haberman notes, there is an aura of doom in the Trump camp that the trial is diminishing the former president as he is forced to sit at the defendant's table for four days a week, which is crippling his ability to campaign.

Along with that, there is a growing realization after jury selection was completed that the odds of a mistrial may be slimmer than previously thought after listening to prospective jurors weigh in on the former president.

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"Some of those opinions have been negative, with one potential juror made to read aloud her old social media posts blasting him as a sociopath and an egomaniac. The only times he has smiled have been when prospective jurors have referred to work of his that they have liked," Haberman wrote.

She then added, "Many in Mr. Trump’s broader orbit are pessimistic about the case ending in a hung jury or a mistrial, and they see an outright acquittal as virtually impossible. They are bracing for him to be convicted, not because they cede the legal grounds, but because they think jurors in overwhelmingly Democratic Manhattan will be against the polarizing former president."

The report also notes that insiders worry just as much that the trial itself, regardless of the verdict, will hurt him with voters.

As Haberman explained, "... the shared sense among many of his advisers is that the process may damage him as much as a guilty verdict. The process, they believe, is its own punishment."

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