NEW YORK CITY — An artist who has attended nearly every day of former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial sat in rapt as attention as the guilty verdicts started rolling in, she told Raw Story in a phone interview Thursday.
Jessica Jarva, who goes by her artist's name Jarvaland, spent a tense day waiting in the courtroom with Trump for a verdict.
"The most powerful thing of it was them saying each count — that was 34 guilties in a row," Jarvaland said. "Every juror said, 'Yeah that’s how I feel.'"
A jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Jarvaland said Trump had his eyes closed through much of it, but a dawning truth seemed to wake him up as attorneys presented their closing arguments and jury deliberations began.
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During the wait on Thursday, she witnessed Trump prepare himself to face the caged-in crew of journalists who daily air his pre- and post-trial statements.
"I saw a moment when he was just getting out the door. He just kinda shut his eyes," Jarvaland said. "He tries to put a tough face on. His eyebrows dropped down."
"He looked kinda embarrassed."
Trump maintained his innocence throughout the six-week trial that saw a cast of characters — including his former fixer, an adult film star and an ex-tabloid publisher — take the stand to testify about catch-and-kill schemes linked to salacious stories and six-figure payments made in secret.
But jurors spent less than two days deliberating the historic decision, which represents the first time a panel of jurors determined the guilt of a former president on criminal charges.
Jarvaland said she was not surprised.
"All the evidence was there, and the defense’s closing argument wasn’t a cohesive story of innocence," Jarvaland said. "In Their closing arguments, they said, 'A lie is a lie.'"
Jarvaland burst into laughter as she recalled the line.
"Who thought to say that?" she said. "You can’t say 'a lie is a lie' in defense in of Donald Trump. That’s crazy! There’s no logic there."
Jarvaland missed a single day of Trump’s historic trial — the same day conspiracy theorist Max Azzarello fatally immolated himself in the plaza across the street from the courthouse.
Sometimes she waited in the line forming outside the courthouse overnight to ensure she could get inside Manhattan criminal court to draw.
“I sort of got sucked into it,” Jarvaland told Raw Story earlier this month. “It just becomes a part of my life.”
That's a part of the reason why Jarvaland has empathy for Trump's legal team.
"They looked distressed," Jarvaland said. "His lawyers have been looking like they're about to lose their jobs for a while."
Their apparent distress stood in stark contrast to the jury foreman, a muscular man with a square face, who went through the panel's verdicts one by one, she said.
"Anyone who was trying to be a good juror in the eyes of the law, there was no other option but to give a guilty verdict," she said. "He seemed confident in it."
This confidence was shared by the MAGA supporters Jarvaland befriended over the weeks as they stood together in line in hopes of gaining entry to the historic trial.
Jarvaland said she's come to like and respect both the law enforcement officers who patrol the court and the people who told her they'll vote for Trump no matter what.
"He’s not guilty, he’ll never be guilty, we don’t care, he’s still gonna be president," she said they've told her. "They very well might be right."
This is the "bizarre" truth Jarvaland takes away from Trump's trial about America's political realm and the journalists who cover it.
"You would think that would have an influence on you running for president, but it seems not," she said. "That’s what I love about Trump — he reveals a lot of truths that are just hidden in a way."
Jarvaland cast her gaze specifically on the testimony of former National Enquirer publisher Dave Pecker, who testified both about catch-and-kill schemes and political hit pieces his tabloid published to aid Trump's 2016 campaign.
"It tells us that there’s no free media," Jarvaland said of the trial, "and everything based on how much money you have to pay the National Enquirer to endorse your lies."
