51�Թ�

AS NYP points out, "Merchan presided over the trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, which ended in a conviction of two Trump Organization companies on a number of charges for criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records."

"I mean, obviously she's a Republican and I'm a Libertarian, so we'd have to discuss some items," Maldonado said in an interview with NYP from prison.

Per NYP's reporting, this "joke" put false hope in Maldonado's mind and after he was unable to convince the president to actually set him free, he came up with the decision to run himself.

I am a little skeptical of single-source anonymous reporting, but NYP rarely misses in celebrity coverage, possibly because of its extremely strong relationships with publicists.

NYP Holdings, Allan and Keith Poole, the newspaper’s current editor.