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Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
• An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
• An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

The paper that follows should:

• Explain the analysis of the college admission process
• Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

• Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

• Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

• Dissertation
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Book Report/Review
• Research Proposal
• Math Problems
• Proofreading
• Movie Review
• Cover Letter Writing
• Personal Statement
• Nursing Paper
• Argumentative Essay
• Research Paper
• Discussion Board Post

What Is Beauty?

Table of Contents

The concept of beauty is studied in sociology, philosophy, psychology, culture, and aesthetics.

It is regarded as a property of an object, idea, animal, place, or a person, and it often interpreted as balance and harmony with nature.

Beauty as a concept has been argued throughout the entire history of civilization, but even today, there is neither single definition accepted by many people nor shared vision.

People think that something or someone is beautiful when it gives them feelings of attraction, placidity, pleasure, and satisfaction, which may lead to emotional well-being.

If speaking about a beautiful person, he or she can be characterized by the combination of inner beauty (personality, elegance, integrity, grace, intelligence, etc.) and outer beauty or physical attractiveness.

The interpretation of beauty and its standards are highly subjective. They are based on changing cultural values.

Besides, people have unique personalities with different tastes and standards, so everyone has a different vision of what is beautiful and what is ugly.

We all know the saying that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

That’s why writing a beauty definition essay is not easy. In this article, we will explore this type of essay from different angles and provide you with an easy how-to writing guide.

Besides, you will find 20 interesting beauty essay topics and a short essay sample which tells about the beauty of nature.

What is beauty essay?

Let’s talk about the specifics of what is beauty philosophy essay.

As we have already mentioned, there is no single definition of this concept because its interpretation is based on constantly changing cultural values as well as the unique vision of every person.

…So if you have not been assigned a highly specific topic, you can talk about the subjective nature of this concept in the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder essay.”

Communicate your own ideas in “what does beauty mean to you essay,” tell about psychological aspects in the “inner beauty essay” or speak about aesthetic criteria of physical attractiveness in the “beauty is only skin deep essay.”

You can choose any approach you like because there are no incorrect ways to speak about this complex subjective concept.

How to write a beauty definition essay?

When you are writing at a college level, it’s crucial to approach your paper in the right way.

Keep reading to learn how to plan, structure, and write a perfect essay on this challenging topic.

You should start with a planning stage which will make the entire writing process faster and easier. There are different planning strategies, but it’s very important not to skip the essential stages.

• Analyzing the topic – break up the title to understand what is exactly required and how complex your response should be. Create a mind map, a diagram, or a list of ideas on the paper topic.
• Gathering resources – do research to find relevant material (journal and newspaper articles, books, websites). Create a list of specific keywords and use them for the online search. After completing the research stage, create another mind map and carefully write down quotes and other information which can help you answer the essay question.
• Outlining the argument – group the most significant points into 3 themes and formulate a strong specific thesis statement for your essay. Make a detailed paper plan, placing your ideas in a clear, logical order. Develop a structure, forming clear sections in the main body of your paper.

If you know exactly what points you are going to argue, you can write your introduction and conclusion first. But if you are unsure about the logical flow of the argument, it would be better to build an argument first and leave the introductory and concluding sections until last.

Stick to your plan but be ready to deviate from it as your work develops. Make sure that all adjustments are relevant before including them in the paper.

Keep in mind that the essay structure should be coherent.

In the introduction, you should move from general to specific.

• Start your essay with an attention grabber : a provocative question, a relevant quote, a story.
• Then introduce the topic and give some background information to provide a context for your subject.
• State the thesis statement and briefly outline all the main ideas of the paper.
• Your thesis should consist of the 2 parts which introduce the topic and state the point of your paper .

Body paragraphs act like constructing a block of your argument where your task is to persuade your readers to accept your point of view.

• You should stick to the points and provide your own opinion on the topic .
• The number of paragraphs depends on the number of key ideas.
• You need to develop a discussion to answer the research question and support the thesis .
• Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence that communicates the main idea of the paragraph.
• Add supporting sentences to develop the main idea and provide appropriate examples to support and illustrate the point .
• Comment on the examples and analyze their significance .
• Use paraphrases and quotes with introductory phrases. They should be relevant to the point you are making.
• Finish every body paragraph with a concluding sentence that provides a transition to the next paragraph .
• Use transition words and phrases to help your audience follow your ideas .

In conclusion, which is the final part of your essay, you need to move from the specific to general.

• You may restate your thesis , give a brief summary of the key points, and finish with a broad statement about the future direction for research and possible implications.
• Don’t include any new information here.

When you have written the first draft, put it aside for a couple of days. Reread the draft and edit it by improving the content and logical flow, eliminating wordiness, and adding new examples if necessary to support your main points. Edit the draft several times until you are completely satisfied with it.

Finally, proofread the draft, fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and check all references and citations to avoid plagiarism. Review your instructions and make sure that your essay is formatted correctly.

Winning beauty essay topics

• Are beauty contests beneficial for young girls?
• Is it true that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?
• Inner beauty vs physical beauty.
• History of beauty pageants.
• How can you explain the beauty of nature?
• The beauty of nature as a theme of art.
• The beauty of nature and romanticism.
• Concept of beauty in philosophy.
• Compare concepts of beauty in different cultures.
• Concept of beauty and fashion history.
• What is the aesthetic value of an object?
• How can beauty change and save the world?
• What is the ideal beauty?
• Explain the relationship between art and beauty.
• Can science be beautiful?
• What makes a person beautiful?
• The cult of beauty in ancient Greece.
• Rejection of beauty in postmodernism.
• Is beauty a good gift of God?
• Umberto Eco on the western idea of beauty.

The beauty of nature essay sample

The world around us is so beautiful that sometimes we can hardly believe it exists. The beauty of nature has always attracted people and inspired them to create amazing works of art and literature. It has a great impact on our senses, and we start feeling awe, wonder or amazement. The sight of flowers, rainbows, and butterflies fills human hearts with joy and a short walk amidst nature calms their minds. …Why is nature so beautiful? Speaking about people, we can classify them between beautiful and ugly. But we can’t say this about nature. You are unlikely to find an example in the natural world which we could call ugly. Everything is perfect – the shapes, the colors, the composition. It’s just a magic that nature never makes aesthetic mistakes and reveals its beauty in all places and at all times. Maybe we are psychologically programmed to consider natural things to be beautiful. We think that all aspects of nature are beautiful because they are alive. We see development and growth in all living things, and we consider them beautiful, comparing that movement with the static state of man-made things. Besides, maybe we experience the world around us as beautiful because we view it as an object of intellect and admire its rational structure. Nature has intrinsic value based on its intelligible structure. It’s an integral part of our lives, and it needs to be appreciated.

On balance…

We have discussed specifics of the “what is true beauty essay” and the effective writing strategies you should use to approach this type of academic paper. Now it’s time to practice writing.

You should write whenever you have a chance because practice makes perfect. If you feel you need more information about writing essays, check other articles on our website with useful tips and tricks.

Othello Essay Topic: Choosing a Perfect One for an Essay

Simple Tips On Writing The George Washington Essay

Thoughts on writing abortion persuasive essay.

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It could be argued that makeup are products that are almost exclusively targeting women, and the advertising of makeup could create an image of how women should look. This study investigates how two cosmetic brands, Maybelline and CoverGirl, are advertising makeup in social media and what this conveys about gender and beauty. The study is approached from Fairclough’s (1995) three dimensional model while considering strategies of advertising and gender discourse. Through a textual analysis, it was found that although the brands want to transmit an emotion of confidence to women, the advertisements still display and communicate gender in stereotypical ways.

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25 Thesis Statement Examples That Will Make Writing a Breeze

Understanding what makes a good thesis statement is one of the major keys to writing a great research paper or argumentative essay. The thesis statement is where you make a claim that will guide you through your entire paper. If you find yourself struggling to make sense of your paper or your topic, then it's likely due to a weak thesis statement.

Let's take a minute to first understand what makes a solid thesis statement, and what key components you need to write one of your own.

A thesis statement always goes at the beginning of the paper. It will typically be in the first couple of paragraphs of the paper so that it can introduce the body paragraphs, which are the supporting evidence for your thesis statement.

Your thesis statement should clearly identify an argument. You need to have a statement that is not only easy to understand, but one that is debatable. What that means is that you can't just put any statement of fact and have it be your thesis. For example, everyone knows that puppies are cute . An ineffective thesis statement would be, "Puppies are adorable and everyone knows it." This isn't really something that's a debatable topic.

Something that would be more debatable would be, "A puppy's cuteness is derived from its floppy ears, small body, and playfulness." These are three things that can be debated on. Some people might think that the cutest thing about puppies is the fact that they follow you around or that they're really soft and fuzzy.

All cuteness aside, you want to make sure that your thesis statement is not only debatable, but that it also actually thoroughly answers the research question that was posed. You always want to make sure that your evidence is supporting a claim that you made (and not the other way around). This is why it's crucial to read and research about a topic first and come to a conclusion later. If you try to get your research to fit your thesis statement, then it may not work out as neatly as you think. As you learn more, you discover more (and the outcome may not be what you originally thought).

Additionally, your thesis statement shouldn't be too big or too grand. It'll be hard to cover everything in a thesis statement like, "The federal government should act now on climate change." The topic is just too large to actually say something new and meaningful. Instead, a more effective thesis statement might be, "Local governments can combat climate change by providing citizens with larger recycling bins and offering local classes about composting and conservation." This is easier to work with because it's a smaller idea, but you can also discuss the overall topic that you might be interested in, which is climate change.

So, now that we know what makes a good, solid thesis statement, you can start to write your own. If you find that you're getting stuck or you are the type of person who needs to look at examples before you start something, then check out our list of thesis statement examples below.

Thesis statement examples

A quick note that these thesis statements have not been fully researched. These are merely examples to show you what a thesis statement might look like and how you can implement your own ideas into one that you think of independently. As such, you should not use these thesis statements for your own research paper purposes. They are meant to be used as examples only.

• Vaccinations Because many children are unable to vaccinate due to illness, we must require that all healthy and able children be vaccinated in order to have herd immunity.
• Educational Resources for Low-Income Students Schools should provide educational resources for low-income students during the summers so that they don't forget what they've learned throughout the school year.
• School Uniforms School uniforms may be an upfront cost for families, but they eradicate the visual differences in income between students and provide a more egalitarian atmosphere at school.
• Populism The rise in populism on the 2016 political stage was in reaction to increasing globalization, the decline of manufacturing jobs, and the Syrian refugee crisis.
• Public Libraries Libraries are essential resources for communities and should be funded more heavily by local municipalities.
• Cyber Bullying With more and more teens using smartphones and social media, cyber bullying is on the rise. Cyber bullying puts a lot of stress on many teens, and can cause depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Parents should limit the usage of smart phones, monitor their children's online activity, and report any cyber bullying to school officials in order to combat this problem.
• Medical Marijuana for Veterans Studies have shown that the use of medicinal marijuana has been helpful to veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Medicinal marijuana prescriptions should be legal in all states and provided to these veterans. Additional medical or therapy services should also be researched and implemented in order to help them re-integrate back into civilian life.
• Work-Life Balance Corporations should provide more work from home opportunities and six-hour workdays so that office workers have a better work-life balance and are more likely to be productive when they are in the office.
• Teaching Youths about Consensual Sex Although sex education that includes a discussion of consensual sex would likely lead to less sexual assault, parents need to teach their children the meaning of consent from a young age with age appropriate lessons.
• Whether or Not to Attend University A degree from a university provides invaluable lessons on life and a future career, but not every high school student should be encouraged to attend a university directly after graduation. Some students may benefit from a trade school or a "gap year" where they can think more intensely about what it is they want to do for a career and how they can accomplish this.
• Studying Abroad Studying abroad is one of the most culturally valuable experiences you can have in college. It is the only way to get completely immersed in another language and learn how other cultures and countries are different from your own.
• Women's Body Image Magazines have done a lot in the last five years to include a more diverse group of models, but there is still a long way to go to promote a healthy woman's body image collectively as a culture.
• Cigarette Tax Heavily taxing and increasing the price of cigarettes is essentially a tax on the poorest Americans, and it doesn't deter them from purchasing. Instead, the state and federal governments should target those economically disenfranchised with early education about the dangers of smoking.
• Veganism A vegan diet, while a healthy and ethical way to consume food, indicates a position of privilege. It also limits you to other cultural food experiences if you travel around the world.
• University Athletes Should be Compensated University athletes should be compensated for their service to the university, as it is difficult for these students to procure and hold a job with busy academic and athletic schedules. Many student athletes on scholarship also come from low-income neighborhoods and it is a struggle to make ends meet when they are participating in athletics.
• Women in the Workforce Sheryl Sandberg makes a lot of interesting points in her best-selling book, Lean In , but she only addressed the very privileged working woman and failed to speak to those in lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs.
• Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide should be legal and doctors should have the ability to make sure their patients have the end-of-life care that they want to receive.
• Celebrity and Political Activism Although Taylor Swift's lyrics are indicative of a feminist perspective, she should be more politically active and vocal to use her position of power for the betterment of society.
• The Civil War The insistence from many Southerners that the South seceded from the Union for states' rights versus the fact that they seceded for the purposes of continuing slavery is a harmful myth that still affects race relations today.
• Blue Collar Workers Coal miners and other blue-collar workers whose jobs are slowly disappearing from the workforce should be re-trained in jobs in the technology sector or in renewable energy. A program to re-train these workers would not only improve local economies where jobs have been displaced, but would also lead to lower unemployment nationally.
• Diversity in the Workforce Having a diverse group of people in an office setting leads to richer ideas, more cooperation, and more empathy between people with different skin colors or backgrounds.
• Re-Imagining the Nuclear Family The nuclear family was traditionally defined as one mother, one father, and 2.5 children. This outdated depiction of family life doesn't quite fit with modern society. The definition of normal family life shouldn't be limited to two-parent households.
• Digital Literacy Skills With more information readily available than ever before, it's crucial that students are prepared to examine the material they're reading and determine whether or not it's a good source or if it has misleading information. Teaching students digital literacy and helping them to understand the difference between opinion or propaganda from legitimate, real information is integral.
• Beauty Pageants Beauty pageants are presented with the angle that they empower women. However, putting women in a swimsuit on a stage while simultaneously judging them on how well they answer an impossible question in a short period of time is cruel and purely for the amusement of men. Therefore, we should stop televising beauty pageants.
• Supporting More Women to Run for a Political Position In order to get more women into political positions, more women must run for office. There must be a grassroots effort to educate women on how to run for office, who among them should run, and support for a future candidate for getting started on a political career.

Still stuck? Need some help with your thesis statement?

If you are still uncertain about how to write a thesis statement or what a good thesis statement is, be sure to consult with your teacher or professor to make sure you're on the right track. It's always a good idea to check in and make sure that your thesis statement is making a solid argument and that it can be supported by your research.

After you're done writing, it's important to have someone take a second look at your paper so that you can ensure there are no mistakes or errors. It's difficult to spot your own mistakes, which is why it's always recommended to have someone help you with the revision process, whether that's a teacher, the writing center at school, or a professional editor such as one from ServiceScape .

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How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.

When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.

You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus. 

Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.

Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point. 

The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.

Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:

• Argumentative: The United States needs a viable third political party to decrease bipartisanship, increase options, and help reduce corruption in government.
• Informative: The Libertarian party has thrown off elections before by gaining enough support in states to get on the ballot and by taking away crucial votes from candidates.
• Analytical: An analysis of past presidential elections shows that while third party votes may have been the minority, they did affect the outcome of the elections in 2020, 2016, and beyond.

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:

• What impact did reality TV have on American society?
• How has the musical Hamilton affected perception of American history?
• Why do I want to major in [chosen major here]?

If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that. 

If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:

“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:

“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”

Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves. 

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.

If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to write a thesis statement + examples

What is a thesis statement?

Is a thesis statement a question, how do you write a good thesis statement, how do i know if my thesis statement is good, examples of thesis statements, helpful resources on how to write a thesis statement, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement, related articles.

A thesis statement is the main argument of your paper or thesis.

The thesis statement is one of the most important elements of any piece of academic writing . It is a brief statement of your paper’s main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about.

You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the question with new information and not just restate or reiterate it.

Your thesis statement is part of your introduction. Learn more about how to write a good thesis introduction in our introduction guide .

A thesis statement is not a question. A statement must be arguable and provable through evidence and analysis. While your thesis might stem from a research question, it should be in the form of a statement.

Tip: A thesis statement is typically 1-2 sentences. For a longer project like a thesis, the statement may be several sentences or a paragraph.

A good thesis statement needs to do the following:

• Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences.
• Answer your project’s main research question.
• Clearly state your position in relation to the topic .
• Make an argument that requires support or evidence.

Once you have written down a thesis statement, check if it fulfills the following criteria:

• Your statement needs to be provable by evidence. As an argument, a thesis statement needs to be debatable.
• Your statement needs to be precise. Do not give away too much information in the thesis statement and do not load it with unnecessary information.
• Your statement cannot say that one solution is simply right or simply wrong as a matter of fact. You should draw upon verified facts to persuade the reader of your solution, but you cannot just declare something as right or wrong.

As previously mentioned, your thesis statement should answer a question.

If the question is:

What do you think the City of New York should do to reduce traffic congestion?

A good thesis statement restates the question and answers it:

In this paper, I will argue that the City of New York should focus on providing exclusive lanes for public transport and adaptive traffic signals to reduce traffic congestion by the year 2035.

Here is another example. If the question is:

How can we end poverty?

A good thesis statement should give more than one solution to the problem in question:

In this paper, I will argue that introducing universal basic income can help reduce poverty and positively impact the way we work.

• The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina has a list of questions to ask to see if your thesis is strong .

A thesis statement is part of the introduction of your paper. It is usually found in the first or second paragraph to let the reader know your research purpose from the beginning.

In general, a thesis statement should have one or two sentences. But the length really depends on the overall length of your project. Take a look at our guide about the length of thesis statements for more insight on this topic.

Here is a list of Thesis Statement Examples that will help you understand better how to write them.

Every good essay should include a thesis statement as part of its introduction, no matter the academic level. Of course, if you are a high school student you are not expected to have the same type of thesis as a PhD student.

Here is a great YouTube tutorial showing How To Write An Essay: Thesis Statements .

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COVID Select Subcommittee Releases Dr. Fauci’s Transcript, Highlights Key Takeaways in New Memo

WASHINGTON — Today, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) released the transcript from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s transcribed interview. Dr. Fauci served as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and was the face of America’s public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic. His closed door, 14-hour, two-day testimony in January 2024 has served as a critical component of the Select Subcommittee’s investigations into the origins of COVID-19, pandemic-era domestic policy failures, and improvements to the United States’ public health system. In conjunction with the transcript, the Select Subcommittee also released a new staff memo that highlights the key takeaways from Dr. Fauci’s transcribed interview. The memo can be found here .

The Select Subcommittee also released four additional transcripts from senior public health officials. These transcripts, as well as Dr. Fauci’s transcript, can be found below:

• Dr. Anthony Fauci Part 1
• Dr. Anthony Fauci Part 2
• Dr. Hugh Auchincloss
• Dr. Cliff Lane
• Greg Folkers
• Gray Handley

Below are important exchanges from Dr. Fauci’s transcribed interview:

SOCIAL DISTANCING : The “6 feet apart” social distancing recommendation forced on Americans by federal health officials was arbitrary and not based on science. Dr. Fauci testified that this guidance — which shut down schools and small businesses nationwide — “sort of just appeared” and was not based on any scientific studies.

Majority Counsel: “ Do you recall when discussions regarding, kind of, the at least a 6 foot threshold began? ”

Dr. Fauci: “The 6 foot in the school?”

Majority Counsel: “Six foot overall.  I mean, 6-foot was applied at businesse s—”

Dr. Fauci: “Yeah.”

Majority Counsel: “ —it was applied in schools, it was applied here.  At least how the messaging was applied was that 6-foot distancing was the distance that needed to be— “

Dr. Fauci: “ You know, I don’t recall.  It sort of just appeared.  I don’t recall, like, a discussion of whether it should be 5 or 6 or whatever.  It was just that 6 foot is— ”   

Majority Counsel: “ Did you see any studies that supported 6 feet? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ I was not aware of studies that in fact, that would be a very difficult study to do. ”

MASKING : Dr. Fauci testified that he did not recall any supporting evidence for masking children. Concerningly, mask-wearing has been associated with learning loss and severe speech development issues in America’s children.

Majority Counsel: “ Do you recall reviewing any studies or data supporting masking for children? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ You know, I might have, Mitch, but I don’t recall specifically that I did. I might have. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Since the — there’s been a lot of studies that have come out since the pandemic started, but specifically on this there have been significant on kind of like the learning loss and speech and development issues that have been associated with particularly young children wearing masks while they’re growing up. They can’t see their teacher talk and can’t learn how to form words. Have you followed any of those studies? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ No. But I believe that there are a lot of conflicting studies too, that there are those that say, yes, there is an impact, and there are those that say there’s not. I still think that’s up in the air. ”

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS : Dr. Fauci unequivocally agreed with EVERY travel restriction issued by the Trump Administration at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This testimony runs counter to the public narrative that the Trump Administration’s travel restrictions were xenophobic. During his transcribed interview, the Biden Administration’s counsel curiously prohibited Dr. Fauci from answering questions on whether he recommended the travel restrictions.

Majority Counsel: “ Did you agree with President Trump’s decision to restrict travel from China? ”                             

Dr. Fauci: “ I did , and I said there were caveats to restrictions. I agreed with it, but I said we have to be careful because sometimes when you do restrictions they have negative consequences in that you don’t have open access to help or even information. But fundamentally, I agreed at that time, since we had almost no infections that we knew of in our country, that at least a temporary restriction would be important. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Did you also agree with the EU travel restriction? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ I agreed with the suggestion that that be done, yes. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Did you agree with the U.K. travel restriction? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ Yes, I did. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Did you recommend instituting travel restrictions in response to the pandemic? ”

Biden Administration Official: “ I’m going to step in here .”

VACCINE MANDATES: Dr. Fauci admitted that vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic could increase vaccine hesitancy in the future. He also claimed that these mandates were not sufficiently studied ahead of the pandemic. Previously, Dr. Fauci advocated “that when you make it difficult for people in their lives, they lose their ideological bullshit, and they get vaccinated.”

Majority Counsel: “ Do you think mandating vaccines can result in some hesitancy? ” 

Dr. Fauci: “ I think one of the things that we really need to do after the fact, now, to — you know, after-the-game, after-the-event  evaluation of things that need to be done, we really need to take a look at the psyche of  the country, have maybe some social-type studies to figure out, does the mandating of vaccines in the way the country’s mental framework is right now, does that actually cause more people to not want to get vaccinated, or not? I don’t know. But I think that’s something we need to know. ”

LAB LEAK THEORY : Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory. This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous “Proximal Origin” paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab leak hypothesis.

Majority Counsel: “ Just you sitting here today, do you think the possibility or the hypothesis that the coronavirus emerged from a laboratory accident is a conspiracy theory? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ Well, it’s a possibility. I think people have made conspiracy aspects from it.  And I think you have to separate the two when you keep an open mind, that it could be a lab leak or it could be a natural occurrence. I’ve mentioned in this committee that I believe the evidence that I’ve seen weighs my opinion towards one, which is a natural occurrence, but I still leave an open mind. So I think that in and of itself isn’t inherently a conspiracy theory, but some people spin off things from that that are kind of crazy .”

GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH : Dr. Fauci repeatedly played semantics with the definition of “gain-of-function” research in an effort to avoid conceding that the NIH’s funded this dangerous research in China . As the head of NIAID and the face of America’s response to the pandemic, Dr. Fauci certainly understood the common definition of “gain-of-function.” Yet, he repeatedly refused — both behind closed doors and to Sen. Rand Paul during a 2021 hearing — to clarify a general understanding of the term and instead only referred to his own “operative definition.

Dr. Fauci: “ So, when I, to repeat, when I’m asked is something gain of function, I’m referring to the operative definition of gain of function according to the framework of the 3PCO…That’s my definition. That is the regulatory operational definition. And as we were talking about before, other people use the word “gain of function” this, “gain of function” that, and everybody’s got their own interpretation of it.  But when you’re deciding whether a grant should be funded, this is the operational definition. And when I was asked anywhere by the Congress, by the Senate, by Senator Paul this is what I was referring to .” 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST : Dr. Fauci claimed that his staff had no conflicts of interest regarding the origins of COVID-19, yet his Senior Advisor — Dr. David Morens — was “best-friends” with disgraced and soon-to-be debarred EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak . Considering Dr. Morens worked under Dr. Fauci’s leadership for more than 20 years, it seems highly unlikely that Dr. Fauci was genuinely unaware of this relationship.

Majority Counsel: “ I was wondering if you had thoughts on whether Dr. Daszak should have filed competing interest statements when he was weighing in on these issues, whether through the National Academies or other venues. ”

Dr. Fauci: “ You know, I hesitate to speculate about what someone else should do. The only people that I am involved with is my own staff, who we’ve mentioned many times in this discussion, who don’t have a conflict of interest. ”

GRANT APPROVAL : Dr. Fauci testified that he signed off on every foreign and domestic NIAID grant without reviewing the proposals. He was also unable to confirm if NIAID has ANY mechanisms to conduct oversight of the foreign laboratories they fund . NIAID’s flawed grant process — which relies heavily on trusting its grantees without verifying — leaves opportunities  for adversaries to exploit.

Majority Counsel: “ Who gives the final approval? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ You know, technically, I sign off on each council, but I don’t see the grants and what they are.  I never look at what grants are there.  It’s just somebody at the end of the council where they’re all finished and they go, ‘Here,’ and you sign it .”  

Majority Counsel: “ Okay. So to your knowledge, NIAID wouldn’t kind of independently verify the biosafety of a foreign lab? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ Again, I’d have to say I’m not sure.  To my knowledge, I wouldn’t be able to make a statement that I would be confident it would be. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Do you know if NIAID grants go through any type of national security review as part of the process? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ National security review? ”

Majority Counsel: “ So, like, through the National Security Council or— “

Dr. Fauci: “ No. ”

Majority Counsel: “ —or anyone in the [intelligence community]— “

Dr. Fauci: “ Not to my knowledge .”

Majority Counsel: “ I guess what we’re trying to learn going forward is, obviously, U.S. labs are vetted, certified, and there’s a standard of how U.S. labs operate. Are foreign labs held to the same standard as U.S. labs when they receive U.S. money, or are they the standards of the country in which they operate? ” 

Dr. Fauci: “ I am not certain. I have heard again, I think it was subsequent to of course, that was never brought up. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Uh huh. ”

Dr. Fauci: “ When I was the director, no one ever asked me, you know, who determines, you know, what the standards of a foreign lab are. But so the answer to your question is I don’t know, okay? ”

FEIGNED IGNORANCE : Dr. Fauci claimed he “did not recall” numerous issues and events surrounding the pandemic more than 100 times . Specifically, Dr. Fauci testified that despite the fact EcoHealth Alliance was conducting risky gain-of-function research in China, he did not know any details about the grant, nor did he maintain a relationship with its President, Dr. Peter Daszak.

Majority Counsel: “ Do you recall when you first found out that the year 5 progress report was missing from the EcoHealth grant? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ I don’t recall precisely.  It was somewhere on a briefing that the staff gave to me.  I don’t know exactly when that was.  It could have been later.  I don’t know. ”

Majority Counsel: “ Okay.  Do you think, just to the best of your recollection, whether it was before you were aware that the year 5 progress report was late before May 2021 or it would have been after? ”

Dr. Fauci: “ I don’t recall. ”

Press Releases

Ulta beauty announces first quarter fiscal 2024 results, related documents.

Net Sales of $2.7 Billion Compared to $2.6 Billion in the Year-Ago Quarter

Comparable Sales Increased 1.6%

Net Income of $313.1 Million or $6.47 Per Diluted Share

Company Updates Fiscal 2024 Guidance

BOLINGBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) today announced financial results for the thirteen-week period (“first quarter”) ended May 4, 2024.

“The Ulta Beauty team delivered net sales growth of 3.5% and comparable sales growth of 1.6% in a dynamic operating environment. I am proud of how our teams continued to execute our transformational agenda, adapt to a rapidly evolving marketplace, and thoughtfully manage expenses across the enterprise,” said Dave Kimbell, chief executive officer. “We have a clear plan to accelerate our momentum and continue delivering a best-in-class assortment and engaging experiences for our guests. I remain confident in our differentiated model, the resilience of the beauty category, and our ability to execute against our plans, but we have adjusted our annual guidance as we anticipate the dynamics we faced in the first quarter to continue for the balance of the year.”

First Quarter of Fiscal 2024 Compared to First Quarter of Fiscal 2023

• Net sales increased 3.5% to $2.7 billion compared to $2.6 billion, primarily due to increased comparable sales, new store contribution, and growth in other revenue.
• Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 1.6% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023, driven by a 1.3% increase in transactions and a 0.3% increase in average ticket.
• Gross profit increased 1.4% to $1.07 billion compared to $1.05 billion. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit decreased to 39.2% compared to 40.0%, primarily due to lower merchandise margins and higher inventory shrink, partially offset by growth in other revenue.
• Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses increased 8.8% to $665.9 million compared to $612.1 million. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses increased to 24.4% compared to 23.2%, primarily due to higher corporate overhead for strategic investments, higher store payroll and benefits, and higher store expenses.
• Operating income was $400.9 million, or 14.7% of net sales, compared to $442.1 million, or 16.8% of net sales.
• The tax rate increased to 23.2% compared to 22.8% primarily due to a reduced benefit from income tax accounting for stock-based compensation.
• Net income was $313.1 million compared to $347.1 million.
• Diluted earnings per share was $6.47, including a $0.10 benefit due to income tax accounting for stock-based compensation, compared to $6.88, including a $0.14 benefit due to income tax accounting for stock-based compensation.

Balance Sheet

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2024 totaled $524.6 million.

Merchandise inventories, net at the end of first quarter of fiscal 2024 increased to $1.9 billion compared to $1.8 billion at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2023. The increase was primarily due to inventory to support new brand launches, 36 net new stores, and an increase in distribution center inventory primarily due to the opening of the market fulfillment center in Greer, SC.

Share Repurchase Program

During the first quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company repurchased 588,004 shares of its common stock at a cost of $285.1 million. As of May 4, 2024, $1.8 billion remained available under the $2.0 billion share repurchase program announced in March 2024.

Store Update

During the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we opened 12 new stores, closed two stores, and relocated one store. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2024 the Company operated 1,395 stores totaling 14.6 million square feet.

Fiscal 2024 Outlook

The Company has updated its outlook for fiscal 2024.

Conference Call Information

A conference call to discuss first quarter of fiscal 2024 results is scheduled for today, May 30, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time / 3:30 p.m. CT. Investors and analysts who are interested in participating in the call are invited to dial (877) 704-4453. Participants may also listen to a real-time audio webcast of the conference call by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website located at https://www.ulta.com/investor . A replay will be made available online approximately two hours following the live call for a period of 30 days.

About Ulta Beauty

At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest specialty U.S. beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. In 1990, the Company reinvented the beauty retail experience by offering a new way to shop for beauty – bringing together All Things Beauty. All in One Place ® . Today, Ulta Beauty operates 1,395 retail stores across 50 states and also distributes its products through its website, which includes a collection of tips, tutorials, and social content. For more information, visit www.ulta.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which reflect the company’s current views with respect to, among other things, future events and financial performance. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “estimates,” “targets,” “strategies” or other comparable words. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon the company’s historical performance and on current plans, estimates and expectations. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by the company or any other person that the future plans, estimates, targets, strategies or expectations contemplated by the company will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation:

• macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, elevated interest rates and recessionary concerns, as well as continuing labor cost pressures, and transportation and shipping cost pressures, have had, and may continue to have, a negative impact on our business, financial condition, profitability, and cash flows (including future uncertain impacts);
• changes in the overall level of consumer spending and volatility in the economy, including as a result of macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical events;
• our ability to sustain our growth plans and successfully implement our long-range strategic and financial plan;
• the ability to execute our operational excellence priorities, including continuous improvement, Project SOAR (the replacement of our enterprise resource planning platform), and supply chain optimization;
• our ability to gauge beauty trends and react to changing consumer preferences in a timely manner;
• the possibility that we may be unable to compete effectively in our highly competitive markets;
• the possibility of significant interruptions in the operations of our distribution centers, fast fulfillment centers, and market fulfillment centers;
• the possibility that cybersecurity or information security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information or result in the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information;
• the possibility of material disruptions to our information systems, including our Ulta.com website and mobile applications;
• the failure to maintain satisfactory compliance with applicable privacy and data protection laws and regulations;
• changes in the good relationships we have with our brand partners, our ability to continue to obtain sufficient merchandise from our brand partners, and/or our ability to continue to offer permanent or temporary exclusive products of our brand partners;
• our ability to effectively manage our inventory and protect against inventory shrink;
• changes in the wholesale cost of our products and/or interruptions at our brand partners’ or third-party vendors’ operations;
• epidemics, pandemics or natural disasters, which could negatively impact sales;
• the possibility that new store openings and existing locations may be impacted by developer or co-tenant issues;
• our ability to attract and retain key executive personnel;
• the impact of climate change on our business operations and/or supply chain;
• our ability to successfully execute our common stock repurchase program or implement future common stock repurchase programs;
• a decline in operating results which could lead to asset impairment and store closure charges; and
• other risk factors detailed in the Company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), including risk factors contained in its Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2024, as such may be amended or supplemented in its subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

The Company’s filings with the SEC are available at www.sec.gov . Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, the Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240530418457/en/

Investor Contacts: Kiley Rawlins, CFA Vice President, Investor Relations [email protected]

Media Contact: Crystal Carroll Senior Director, Public Relations [email protected]

Source: Ulta Beauty, Inc.

Released May 30, 2024

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Jennifer Lopez Balances Her Near-See-Through Schiaparelli Dress With a Casual Top Knot at the 2024 Met Gala

We can always count on Jennifer Lopez to do a red carpet right—and at this year’s Met Gala we were not disappointed. As one of the co-hosts , Lopez understood the assignment (and more) when she wowed everyone in a near-see-through gown adorned with stone embellishments, showing off her immaculate curvy figure.

Though the dress, which is Schiaparelli couture, may be the focal point of Lopez’s look, her neutral makeup and hair offer a nice balance to ground it. The inspo: a butterfly. “The inspiration for this look was a butterfly transforming into something beautiful,” celebrity hairstylist Lorenzo Martin tells Vogue exclusively. “Just like a butterfly, we wanted the hair to be angelic, fresh, and beautiful.”

Martin goes on to say that they wanted to go for an effortless and angelic look to play well into the theme and decided to keep everything soft. He used Shark FlexStyle® Sparkle Air Styling & Drying System in Black Diamond to give Lopez's hair texture and the Tresemme Exta Hold Hair Spray to lock the look in place. The Tangle Teezer Ultimate Styler , he says, helped create those “angelic peices” around the face.

For makeup, Lopez then opts for neutrals, with a mix of browns, pinks, and caramel eyeshadow shades along the eyelids with subtle shimmer to match the sparkle of that incredible dress. Bronzer contours her cheekbones and gives her an ethereal glowing complexion. To finish her makeup look, she opts for a neutral glossy lip—a classic for the singer (and something that just works for any and all occasions) for added shine. Lopez proves that less is more when it comes to makeup and hair, especially when one wears Schiaparelli.

Calling it now: this is our Roman Empire. We’ll be thinking of this look for days.

See All of the Celebrity Looks From the Met Gala 2024 Red Carpet :

Met Gala 2024 : See Every Celebrity Arrival, Read the Latest Stories, and Get Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Access Here

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Fauci pushes back partisan attacks in fiery House hearing over COVID origins and controversies

Fauci testifies publicly before House panel on COVID origins, controversies

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic at Capitol Hill, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, center, arrives for a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic at Capitol Hill, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, joined at left by Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., the ranking member, listens during testimony by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., asks a question during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at Capitol Hill, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., holds up a photo as she condemns Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during his testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, center, testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic at Capitol Hill, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

FILE - Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a hearing in Washington, Sept. 14, 2022. Fauci, who left the government in 2022, is facing heated questioning from Republican lawmakers about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The top U.S. infectious disease expert until 2022, Fauci was grilled by the House panel behind closed doors in January. On Monday, June 3, 2024, they’re questioning him again, in public and on camera. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert until leaving the government in 2022, was back before Congress on Monday, calling “simply preposterous” Republican allegations that he’d tried to cover up origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A GOP-led subcommittee has spent over a year probing the nation’s response to the pandemic and whether U.S.-funded research in China may have played any role in how it started — yet found no evidence linking Fauci to wrongdoing.

He’d already been grilled behind closed doors, for 14 hours over two days in January. But Monday, Fauci testified voluntarily in public and on camera at a hearing that quickly deteriorated into partisan attacks.

Republicans repeated unproven accusations against the longtime National Institutes of Health scientist while Democrats apologized for Congress besmirching his name and bemoaned a missed opportunity to prepare for the next scary outbreak.

“He is not a comic book super villain,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., saying the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic had failed to prove a list of damaging allegations.

Fauci was the public face of the government’s early COVID-19 response under then-President Donald Trump and later as an adviser to President Joe Biden. A trusted voice to millions, he also was the target of partisan anger and choked up Monday as he recalled death threats and other harassment of himself and his family, threats he said still continue. Police later escorted hecklers out of the hearing room.

The main issue: Many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, probably at a wildlife market in Wuhan, the city in China where the outbreak began. There’s no new scientific information supporting that the virus might instead have leaked from a laboratory. A U.S. intelligence analysis says there’s insufficient evidence to prove either way -- and a recent Associated Press investigation found the Chinese government froze critical efforts to trace the source of the virus in the first weeks of the outbreak.

Fauci has long said publicly that he was open to both theories but that there’s more evidence supporting COVID-19’s natural origins, the way other deadly viruses including coronavirus cousins SARS and MERS jumped into people. It was a position he repeated Monday as Republican lawmakers questioned if he worked behind-the-scenes to squelch the lab-leak theory or even tried to influence intelligence agencies.

“I have repeatedly stated that I have a completely open mind to either possibility and that if definitive evidence becomes available to validate or refute either theory, I will ready accept it,” Fauci said. He later invoked a fictional secret agent, decrying a conspiracy theory that “I was parachuting into the CIA like Jason Bourne and told the CIA that they should really not be talking about a lab leak.”

Republicans also have accused Fauci of lying to Congress in denying that his agency funded “gain of function” research – the practicing of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential real-world impact – at a lab in Wuhan.

NIH for years gave grants to a New York nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance that used some of the funds to work with a Chinese lab studying coronaviruses commonly carried by bats. Last month, the government suspended EcoHealth’s federal funding, citing its failure to properly monitor some of those experiments.

The definition of “gain of function” covers both general research and especially risky experiments to “enhance” the ability of potentially pandemic pathogens to spread or cause severe disease in humans. Fauci stressed he was using the risky experiment definition, saying “it would be molecularly impossible” for the bat viruses studied with EcoHealth’s funds to be turned into the virus that caused the pandemic.

In an exchange with Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., Fauci acknowledged that the lab leak is still an open question since it’s impossible to know if some other lab, not funded by NIH money, was doing risky research with coronaviruses.

Fauci did face a new set of questions about the credibility of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he led for 38 years. Last month, the House panel revealed emails from an NIAID colleague about ways to evade public records laws, including by not discussing controversial pandemic issues in government email.

Fauci denounced the actions of that colleague and insisted that “to the best of my knowledge I have never conducted official business via my personal email.”

The pandemic’s origins weren’t the only hot topic. The House panel also blasted some public health measures taken to slow spread of the virus before COVID-19 vaccines, spurred by NIAID research, helped allow a return to normalcy. Ordering people to stay 6 feet apart meant many businesses, schools and churches couldn’t stay open, and subcommittee chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, called it a “burdensome” and arbitrary rule, noting that in his prior closed-door testimony Fauci had acknowledged it wasn’t scientifically backed.

Fauci responded Monday that the 6-feet distancing wasn’t his guideline but one created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before scientists had learned that the new virus was airborne, not spread simply by droplets emitted a certain distance.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Fauci testifies on the origins of Covid-19

By Antoinette Radford, Maureen Chowdhury, Elise Hammond, Carma Hassan and Jen Christensen

Key takeaways from Dr. Anthony Fauci's testimony at House hearing on Covid-19 pandemic

From CNN's Jen Christensen, Elise Hammond, Antoinette Radford and Maureen Chowdhury

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), testified Monday at a House subcommittee hearing about the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the origins of the virus.

The hearing was Fauci’s first public testimony on Capitol Hill since his retirement from government service. It turned contentious at times as Republicans grilled Fauci over a wide range of topics, including the basis for public health recommendations during the pandemic and email use by public health officials.

Here are key takeaways from the hearing:

• US still needs to be better prepared for next pandemic: Fauci said there are still some things the US needs to work on to be ready for another pandemic, saying in “some respects” the country is better prepared to deal with a health crisis than in 2020, “but in others, I am still disappointed.” One thing that he hopes the US will do better moving forward is tightening communication between the federal response and local public health officials.
• Republicans grill Fauci over public health official’s use of email: Fauci testified Monday that he has not used his personal email to conduct business, and he was not aware before a congressional investigation that a former senior adviser at the National Institutes of Health had used an unofficial email. The House Oversight select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic previously released a series of  private   emails  that Republicans argue show that some NIH officials deleted emails and tried to get around requirements to disclose information through public records laws.
• Fauci testifies about possible origins of virus that caused Covid-19: Fauci testified that in early 2020, he was informed through phone calls with two scientists that they and others were concerned that the virus that causes Covid-19 could have been manipulated in the lab. The day after those calls, Fauci said several international virologists examined it further and found that “several who at first were concerned about lab manipulation became convinced that the virus was not deliberately manipulated.” Scientists found the most likely scenario, Fauci said, was a virus that transferred from an animal to a human, “although they still kept an open mind.”
• Fauci details threats he and his family have received: Fauci detailed the threats he received during his time as the director of the NIAID, describing threats against him and his family. “Everything from harassments from emails, texts, letters of myself, my wife, my three daughters. There have been credible death threats leading to the arrest of two individuals – and credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me. And it’s required my having protective services essentially all the time.”
• 6-foot social distance guideline: Fauci clarified that the 6-foot guidance for social distancing given during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic did not come from him, but from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fauci, who repeated the guidance during the pandemic, once said that there was no science behind it — but he meant that there were no clinical trials to back it up. He added that he believed the CDC used studies about droplets years ago as reasoning for the 6-foot guidelines.

Fauci says he supports suspending funding to EcoHealth Alliance

CNN's Jen Christensen

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday he supports suspending US grant funding to EcoHealth Alliance , a New York-based virus research organization that has been tied to question and controversy around the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19.

The US Department of Health and Human Services in May suspended funding to EcoHealth Alliance and proposed the group be blocked from receiving federal funds in the future, possibly for years.

Asked on Monday if he supposed the suspension and debarment of EcoHealth Alliance, Fauci responded “yes.” 

Before the pandemic, the US gave a $120,000 grant to EcoHealth Alliance with a subaward that funded work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In April 2020, the National Institutes of Health terminated the grant.

Fauci said that he later learned that the White House had called to tell the NIH to cancel the grant. Asked Monday if he agreed or disagreed with the decision at the time, he said that wasn’t his problem with the request.

“It wasn’t a question of agreeing or disagreeing. It was like, ‘Can we really do that? I don’t think that you can do that.’ And as it turned out I was right, because the general counsel of HHS said, 'By the way, you can’t do that. You’ve got to restore the grant,' ” Fauci testified.

The grant was reinstated, then suspended pending a compliance review.

Fauci said once he learned that there were compliance issues with the grant, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was told to stay out of it.

Since that time, NIH found numerous violations of grant policies by EcoHealth and has since blocked funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and suspended and proposed blocking NIH funding to EcoHealth as an institution and Dr. Peter Daszak individually.

In a May letter to EcoHealth Alliance and its president, Dr. Peter Daszak, HHS lists 30 pieces of evidence some dating back to 2013 to support its decision. HHS said in a memo that EcoHealth failed to “adequately monitor” virus growth experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, notify the NIH that viruses studied there “appeared to grow beyond permissible thresholds” laid out in a grant or provide requested information in a timely manner.

In a statement last month, a spokeperson for EcoHealth Alliance said the organization was “disappointed by HHS’ decision" and that it would contest the decision.

GOP subcommittee chair and ranking member wrap up hearing with closing statements

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

In his closing statement, Ranking Member Raul Ruiz thanked Dr. Anthony Fauci for his testimony and for his decades of service to the nation in dealing with various epidemics and pandemics.

He also blasted Republicans for pushing extreme narratives for political gain.

"Over the past four years you have been personally targeted by extreme narratives of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and the US governments response to it," Ruiz said. "These extreme narratives have been the bedrock of this subcommittees Republican-led probe and have been undermined by what's been found through interviews and by thousands of documents that have been reviewed."

Ruiz added that the evidence found that "Dr. Fauci did not fund research through the EcoHealth Alliance Grant that caused the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci did not lie about gain of function research in Wuhan China, Dr. Fauci did not orchestrate a campaign to suppress the lab-leak theory."

Subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup also thanked Fauci for coming voluntarily to testify.

He went on to say that the hearing was an opportunity to learn more about the government's Covid-19 response and how the government can improve and do better. He said that while there some things that were done well, there were some wrongdoings in the office where Fauci served.

Wenstrup highlighted that moving forward, clarity is important in order to improve messaging.

"I think what I'm most concerned about as we go forward as a country and from our agencies is that we an be trusted and that we are better in our messaging and talk about clarity," Wenstrup said.

Officials will evaluate "cost-benefit ratio" of vaccine mandates in analysis of pandemic response, Fauci says

From CNN's Elise Hammond

When evaluating the United States’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, public health officials will take a closer look at “the cost-benefit ratio” of things like vaccine mandates, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

Fauci was answering a question about whether issuing mandates could have led to vaccine hesitancy.

“That’s something that I think we need to go back now, when we do an after-the-event evaluation about whether or not given the psyche of the country and the pushback that you get from those types of things — we need to reevaluate the cost-benefit ratio of those types of things,” Fauci said.

Earlier in the hearing, Fauci defended the government’s use of vaccines as saving “hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States and millions of lives throughout the world.

US still needs to close communication gaps to be better prepared for next pandemic, Fauci says

Dr. Anthony Fauci said there are still some things the United States needs to work on to be more prepared for another pandemic in the aftermath of Covid-19.

The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in “some respects” the country is better prepared to deal with a health crisis than in 2020, “but in others, I am still disappointed.”

Fauci was answering a question from Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who served as the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management during the pandemic. The lawmaker said he felt that states were not ready to deal with Covid-19.

“I think one of the things that was really a problem with the response was the degree of divisiveness that we had in the country about a lack of a coherent response where we were having people, for reasons that had nothing to do with public health or science, refusing to adhere to public health intervention measures,” Fauci said.

One thing that he hopes the US will do better moving forward is tightening communication between the federal response and local public health officials.

He said there was a “disconnect between the healthcare system and the public health system” during Covid-19 in the US. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) could not demand information from local agencies, which caused a lag in sharing data.

“We were at a disadvantage,” Fauci said, adding that the CDC is working on ways to fix this pain point.

California lawmaker whose parents died of Covid-19 thanks Fauci for life-saving policies

California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, who said both of his parents died from Covid-19, thanked Dr. Anthony Fauci for putting in policies that saved lives during the pandemic.

Garcia said his mother was a health care worker and she and his step-father both died from Covid-19.

“I lost both of my parents during the pandemic, so I take this very personally," he said, condemning other lawmakers “who are tasked to be responsible and actually help the American people” attack medical professionals, Garcia said.

The comments came after heated remarks from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene who criticized mask mandates and called for Fauci to be put in prison.

“Your quote-unquote so-called science that the gentlewoman is referring to has saved millions of lives in this country and around the world,” Garcia said. “It’s important to note that my opinion is that you are an American hero and your team has done more to save lives than all 435 members of this body on both sides of the aisle.”

GOP chairman has to remind Marjorie Taylor Greene to be respectful as she refuses to call Fauci a doctor

CNN's Haley Talbot

GOP Chairman Brad Wenstrup had to remind Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to be respectful after she insisted that she would not refer to Dr. Anthony Fauci by the title of doctor and would only refer to him as "Mr. Fauci."

"You're not doctor, you're Mr. Fauci in my few minutes," Greene said.

In response, Wenstrup ordered Greene to address Fauci as a doctor. “I have instructed her to address him as doctor,” Wenstrup said. 

“I’m not addressing him as doctor,” she shot back.  

Several Democratic lawmakers jumped in to criticize Greene over her refusal to address Fauci as a doctor.

Wenstrup then asked members to “afford all other members the respect they are entitled” and to “refrain from using rhetoric that could be construed as an attack on the motives or character of another member or the witness.”

Fauci: NIH official using unofficial email is an "aberrancy and an outlier"

Dr. Anthony Fauci testified Monday that he has not used his personal email to conduct business, and he was not aware before a congressional investigation that a former senior adviser at the National Institutes of Health had used unofficial email.

“What you saw, I believe, with Dr. Morens was aberrancy and an outlier,” Fauci testified on Monday, referring to a former senior adviser at NIH. “The individuals at the NIH and NIAID are a very committed group of individuals and this one instance that you point out is an aberrancy and an outlier.”

The House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic previously released a series of  private emails  that Republican members of the committee argue show that some NIH officials deleted emails and tried to get around requirements to disclose information through public records laws.

In a memo  published at the end of May , committee members said Dr. David Morens, a former senior adviser to Fauci, engaged in “nefarious behavior.” The committee points to email that Morens sent another colleague that suggests he would send email to Fauci’s private account and “there is no worry about FOIAs.” FOIA is the Freedom of Information Act, the law that gives the public the right to obtain federal records, including emails sent within government agencies. Morens’ email goes on to say that he can also hand information to Fauci to avoid it being a part of the public record.

“He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble,” Morens said in a 2021 email to Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit virus research organization linked to controversy about the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19. The US Department of Health and Human Services suspended funding to the group in May.

Fauci details threats he and his family have received

From CNN's Antoinette Radford

Anthony Fauci detailed the threats he received during his time as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, describing death threats against him and threats against his wife and daughters.

Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell asked Fauci to explain what some of the threats were, where he replied:

“Everything from harassments from emails, texts, letters of myself, my wife, my three daughters. There have been credible death threats leading to the arrest of two individuals – and credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me. And it’s required my having protective services essentially all the time," Fauci said.

Fauci said he feared that the threats against public health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic would serve as a “powerful disincentive” for the best and brightest candidates to take up the profession.

“They say to themselves, 'I don’t want to go there. Why should I get involved in that?'” he said.

“They’re reluctant to put themselves and their family through what they see their colleagues being put through,” he testified.

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Hunter Biden trial highlights: Jury seated after selection removes some with deep political and gun views

What to know about hunter biden's trial:.

• Hunter Biden , the sole surviving son of President Joe Biden, is on trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on three firearms-related charges brought by special counsel David Weiss, a Trump appointee. He has pleaded not guilty .
• A jury was seated and sworn in at 4:20 p.m. The jurors include a former Secret Service employee. Several of the jurors said they have had family members or close friends with histories of substance abuse.
• Several potential jurors were dismissed for saying they have strong personal opinions about gun ownership, the Justice Department or the Bidens. One was dismissed after saying he was friendly with Hunter Biden's late brother, Beau Biden.
• The trial, which will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, is expected to last roughly two weeks. Opening statements begin tomorrow.
• The trial is the first of a child of a sitting president on criminal charges. The White House said last year that the president will not pardon his son if he is convicted.

Coverage of this event has ended. Get the latest news and live updates on Hunter Biden's criminal trial on gun charges here.

Excused jurors celebrate on their way out of court

Sarah Fitzpatrick

At about 4:15 p.m., the group of qualified jurors who were in the initial round but were ultimately struck from the final jury left the courtroom. The first juror in the line — an older man — appeared to dance as he exited and then fist-bumped the jury administrator. Several other dismissed jurors fist-bumped the jury administrator as they walked to the elevator or gave high-fives; many thanked her for the snacks provided.

Later a court employee wheeled the jury snack cart out into the hallway — it included Goldfish crackers, Oreos, Pringles and granola bars.

Family embraces Biden during court proceedings

After the proceedings ended, Hunter Biden first embraced the first lady, hugging and exchanging kisses on the cheek. He also hugged and kissed on the cheek multiple family members and friends who had been sitting in the rows behind the defense table, including Kevin Morris.

Before he left the courtroom, Biden patted his defense attorney Abbe Lowell on the shoulder and exited the courtroom with his wife, Melissa Biden, with his hand on her shoulder.

Hunter Biden attentive during jury selection

Throughout the trial day, Biden was engaged, leaning forward with his elbows on the table and resting his chin or his face on his hands, which were clasped. He was looking at the jurors or the judge, occasionally speaking to his defense lawyers.

Weiss arrived in the courtroom after the first break and was present until the end. He sat in the front row behind the prosecutors in a relaxed posture with his back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, at the jury or at the media.

Jurors appeared engaged, most looking down at the written jury instructions as they listened to the judge.

Prosecution's first witness is an FBI agent

Gary Grumbach

The prosecution’s first witness will be FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen.

Opening statements begin tomorrow

Court is done for the day. Opening statements begin tomorrow.

Jurors have knowledge of gun ownership and drug addition

Daniel Barnes is reporting from the federal courthouse.

David K. Li

Jurors will come into this trial with some background in gun ownership and struggles with substance abuse.

Juror 26, a middle-age Black man, said that he has concealed weapons permits and that "I believe the Second Amendment is very important." Other jurors also said they have relatives who own guns.

Juror 39 recounted how his older brother struggled with PCP and heroin, but he did not appear to be close to that sibling. Asked whether his brother was still fighting addition, the juror said he was the "last time I checked." He said he does not think people should own guns if they are addicted to drugs.

Juror 38 said that her childhood best friend died of a heroin overdose but that the death would not affect her ability to evaluate evidence of Biden’s addiction.

Jury seated and ready for trial

A jury has been seated. The jurors were sworn in at 4:20 p.m. The final list of jurors: Jurors 3, 5, 16, 19, 20, 26, 31, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39. Alternates are: 50, 52, 53, 65. There are six men and six women on the jury. All four alternates are women.

Potential jurors not selected are dismissed for the day.

What happens next

Rebecca Shabad is in Washington, D.C.

The set of potential jurors are now those numbered 1 to 47 who have not been struck or excused.

The defense will get 10 peremptory strikes, and the government will get six. They will do three rounds of two defense strikes followed by one prosecution strike, and then they will alternate one each. 

They will also get two strikes per alternate. 

Potential juror says she donated to Obama

Potential juror #65 said that she previously donated to Barack Obama but that she could be impartial despite Joe Biden’s role as Obama’s VP. She was left in the pool.

Potential juror #63 says she donated to Trump's 2016 campaign

Potential juror #63 qualified. She said her daughter and son-in-law are both correctional officers and own guns. She also said she donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Potential juror excused after saying she knew Beau Biden: ‘We miss him’

Potential juror #62 said she knows Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden, and knew Beau, as well.

“Wilmington's a small place,” she said. “Beau was a friend of the family. We miss him.”

A relative of judge's staff excused from duty

A juror was excused after Judge Noreika's case manager alerted the court that a prospective panelist is her cousin.

Potential juror #61 did not have to answer any questions from lawyers and was dismissed based only on that family connection to the court.

Potential juror #59 excused after saying he couldn't be impartial

Potential juror #59 was excused after he said he didn’t think he could be impartial. 

36 qualified jurors in jury pool

At 3:35 p.m., there were 36 qualified jurors. The parties will now move on to strikes to narrow this pool down to the 12 jurors plus four alternates.

It's Jill Biden's birthday

Jill Biden, who is attending the trial today in support of Hunter Biden, is also celebrating her birthday today. She turns 73.

Trial has resumed

The trial has resumed after a lunch break.

Judge Noreika did not take the bench back from lunch until 2:55 p.m. The judge brought 20 potential jurors from the second group of 50 potential jurors into the courtroom and read them the voir dire.

She began this process of asking what questions potential jurors have answered yes to over again. They only need two more.

Potential juror #56 says he had a DUI and family history of substance abuse

Potential juror #56 was put in the jury pool. He was arrested for DUI in 2012, and there is a history of drug and alcoholism in his family. Members of his extended family own firearms in New Jersey/Pennsylvania. 

Potential juror #57 was excused for work reasons. He’s a traveling salesman in multiple states. 

Squash-playing pal of Beau Biden's dismissed from jury pool

A man who has played squash with the defendant's brother was excused.

“Beau and I played a squash tournament together,” potential juror #55 told the court.

The prospective juror also said his children have played baseball with Beau’s kids and he knows Hallie Biden.

At least 15 potential jurors have a family member or close friend with substance abuse issues

Alana Satlin

Of the more than 50 potential jurors who have been examined so far, at least 15 people have said they have a family member, significant other or close friend with substance abuse issues. One said her childhood best friend died of a heroin overdose, while another said his daughter is a recovering addict and that "everybody needs a second chance."

Only one of those 15 people was disqualified after saying that she had strong opinions about gun control and believed that Hunter Biden was being prosecuted in part because his father is the president. The other 14 remain in the jury pool.

Potential juror #54 stricken from pool to care for granddaughter

Potential juror #54 was excused from the jury pool because she works overnight shifts and is the caretaker of her granddaughter, who is autistic.

Potential juror #53 added to pool after saying she had just 'basic knowledge' of case

Potential juror #53 was put into the jury pool after she said she had only "basic knowledge" of the case as a resident of Delaware. She added that she gets her news from “my dad” and “Twitter,” now known as X. The potential juror added that she didn’t know the case was going to trial today until her father called her as she was driving to the courthouse.

Potential juror #52 placed in jury pool after saying gun laws should be 'more strict' on ownership

Potential juror #52, a mother with school-age kids, was placed in the jury pool after saying she knows about the case by “seeing what pops up” on the internet, although she hasn’t been reading about it in detail.

An administrative specialist, she said the laws governing who can own guns "should be more strict," adding that she held that view because of mass shootings at schools.

She said she gets her news from Facebook and a local news site, adding, "I put AirPods in my ears, so I don’t have to listen to it. It’s very depressing."

Potential juror #51 excused for a lack of impartiality

Potential juror #51 was excused for a lack of impartiality, saying he had heard of the witnesses on social media and follows President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Instagram.

He said he believed “not everybody should have that right to own a gun” and said he wasn't sure he could be fair and impartial.

Court has recessed until 2:30 p.m.

A lunch break was announced. Court will resume at 2:30 p.m.

First lady Jill Biden leaves court

Ginger Gibson Senior Washington Editor

First lady Jill Biden, who had been sitting in on jury selection since proceedings began this morning, has walked out of the courthouse.

Potential juror #50 qualifies after saying she served on juries in police discrimination and drunken driving cases

Potential juror #50, whose brother retired from the police force, was qualified after she said she had heard about the case a while ago.

She said she has served on multiple juries, including a police discrimination case and a drunken driving civil suit. 

Potential juror #49 qualifies after saying he had heard the basics about the case

Potential juror #49 was qualified after saying he had heard about the case “a while back” on the radio and recalled it was about Hunter Biden and a gun.

He said he had previously served as the foreperson of a jury in a sexual abuse case involving a minor, which resulted in a guilty verdict.

Potential juror #48 qualifies, says former addicts shouldn't be excluded from gun ownership after recovery

Summer Concepcion

Potential juror #48, a retired maintenance mechanic, said he had heard about the case, adding, “I live in Delaware. You can’t swing a cat without hearing something.”

He said his daughter is a recovering addict and "everybody needs a second chance." He added that being a former addict should not preclude you from being allowed to own a gun after recovery.

He also said he could put his feelings aside on the matter. The government moved to strike him because his views on addiction and gun ownership were “antithetical to the law.” But Noreika allowed him to be qualified because he had said he could put his personal feelings aside.

Potential juror #47 qualifies, says he and his wife are gun owners

Potential juror #47 was qualified.

He has heard about the case from the news from CNN. When asked if he had formed an opinion, he said he tried not to do that.

He said his wife is a 911 dispatcher in Kent County, which is south of where the trial is taking place in New Castle County. He owns a gun and so does his wife, noting that he bought his at Cabela’s more than 10 years ago. 

Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, asked this potential juror a question that has become a common theme among his questions to gun owners, particularly those who bought their guns locally: Did the sellers walk them through the background check form they filled out during their purchase? This potential juror answered yes, as have the rest of the potential jurors who’ve gotten this question from Lowell.

Potential juror #46 excused after saying he had formed an opinion on the case

Potential juror #46 was struck in a joint motion after saying he had seen a lot about the case on social media. He said he knew "Hunter was addicted to drugs" and that the case involved a firearm, adding that he had formed an opinion about the case.

Potential juror #45 struck from jury pool after saying he heard about the charges on Fox News

Potential juror #45 was struck in a joint motion from the government and defense.

He said he had heard about the charges on Fox News and was “not so sure” he could give Hunter Biden a fair shake. He added that he read about the case on Newsmax as well.

When asked if he could separate his personal opinions from his ability to judge with impartiality, he told the judge, “Can’t tell you no.”

Potential juror #44 excused for medical issue

Potential juror #44 was excused by the judge for a medical reason.

Potential juror #43 qualifies, previously had a concealed carry permit in Connecticut before moving to Delaware

Potential juror #43 was qualified after saying she had “seen headlines” about the case but “haven’t really been following it.” She had a concealed carry permit in Connecticut before moving to Delaware, but no longer has a firearm after the move. Her father was an alcoholic and died 20 or so years ago, she said.

Potential juror #42 qualifies without objection

Potential juror #42 qualified without objection. He’s a retired painter who worked mostly in the Washington area.

Progress update on jurors qualified for juror pool

Progress update: So far 31 of the 36 necessary jurors have qualified for the jury pool (to account for peremptory strikes and alternates).

Potential juror #41 excused for medical reason

Potential juror #41 was excused due to a medical issue.

Potential juror #40 says she supports gun control to make it harder to buy weapons that 'kill children in schools'

Potential juror #40 was excused for cause. She said she had strong feelings about guns and that she would like to make it harder for people to buy guns that “kill children in schools.” 

“I’d ban them altogether, to be honest,” she said. 

She also donated to various Democratic candidates across the country in the 2022 midterms and joined a “resistance” group after Trump’s 2016 election.

Asked if she thinks Hunter Biden is being prosecuted because his father is the president, she said, "I think it was a very strong factor."

“Other people might’ve done similar things and not had it brought to the same level of scrutiny," she added.

Potential juror #39 qualifies after mentioning brother was an addict

Potential juror #39 was qualified after saying he had an older brother who was addicted to PCP and heroin. His answers made it sound like the two were not close, and he said he didn't know if his brother was still an addict. He also said he doesn’t think people should own guns if they are addicted to drugs.

Potential juror #38 qualifies, says her childhood best friend died of heroin overdose

Potential juror #38 qualified. She said her family hunts and owns rifles, but she doesn’t have any guns.

She said that her childhood best friend died of a heroin overdose, but that would not affect her ability to evaluate evidence of Hunter Biden’s addiction. 

Potential juror #37 qualifies, says he was unaware of the case until this past weekend

Potential juror #37 was qualified. He said he didn’t know anything about the case until this past weekend, when he mentioned to his brother that he had jury duty in Wilmington today, and his brother said it might be for this case.

“I learned more today” than I already knew, he said. He said he has multiple family members who own guns and a brother and brother-in-law who were alcoholics. Both are now dead. “I know they both had diseases,” he said.

Potential juror #36 qualifies, says she has worked as a drug and alcohol rehab counselor

Potential juror #36 was qualified. She said she saw some reporting about the case on the news as recently as this morning, but never guessed this was the case for which she was being called for jury duty.

She said she worked as a drug and alcohol counselor for many years and said she is still close to people in that world. She has some friends and family who have gone through detoxification, but said her work and personal experience would not affect her ability to evaluate the evidence.

Potential juror #35 jokes about his wife's birthday

Potential juror #35, an older man, was put into the jury pool. He said he lives far away and indicated it would be a hardship to drive the 90 minutes each way every day. When the judge offered to put him up in a hotel during the trial, he said that would cause more problems because his wife's birthday is coming up.

The man indicated he knew about the plea deal that was “offered and accepted and then wasn’t” by watching local news. When the judge asked him if he knew anything more about the case, the man said he didn’t.

When Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell questioned him further about his knowledge of the plea deal, the man said he didn’t know much about it. He was watching the news when it came on because he was just “waiting for the weather,” he said.

Twelve people have been removed from the jury pool

Twelve of the 34 people who have been questioned have been excused from the potential jury pool so far.

Potential juror #34 placed into jury pool, says she owns a firearm and previously served on a jury

Potential juror #34, a middle-aged, nonwhite woman, was put into the jury pool. She said she knew about this case “when it came across the screen of the TV” and recognized “the name, that was it.”

She said she owns a firearm and filled out a Pennsylvania form to that effect. She has previously served on a jury in a case related to narcotics and drug possession.

Potential juror's father was killed in gun crime

Potential juror #33 was put into the jury pool after saying his father was killed in a gun crime in 2004. He said his brother was arrested for narcotics possession and served a year in jail. The potential juror said he took law classes but did not continue his law education beyond that.

Potential juror #32 excused after saying she's familiar with the case

Potential juror #32 was excused for cause after telling the judge her niece is in law school and they had been reviewing this case for the last year or so.

The potential juror said she has read Hunter Biden’s memoir “Beautiful Things.” She said she thinks what she learned from those experiences would influence her opinion. 

Potential juror #31 placed in juror pool, says his father 'owns a few' firearms

Potential juror #31, a younger male, was put into the jury pool. He said his father "owns a few" firearms.

During break, Hunter Biden gets support from family and friends

As the trial went to break, Hunter Biden embraced his wife, Melissa, and then had an extended, emotional hug with an older Black man, who sources close to Hunter Biden said was a longtime, very close friend of Joe Biden and the family. The man would not identify himself to NBC News when asked.

Hunter Biden has alternated between looking at the potential jurors, reading documents, and taking on and off his eyeglasses. Before proceedings started, he passed a note written on a piece of paper from a yellow legal pad back to his close friend and former Joe Biden aide, Fran Person.

Potential juror #30 excused for a medical appointment

Potential juror #30 was excused because he has a medical appointment tomorrow.

Potential juror #29 qualifies, says he's a gun owner and supports safe gun ownership

Alexandra Bacallao

Potential juror #29 was qualified. He said he heard in the news about Hunter Biden getting a gun and using drugs. He also said his brother had been arrested in New York City for selling illegal drugs and was deported.

He said he has a concealed carry license in Utah, Delaware and Maryland and owns four guns, which he has had since 2013.

People should be allowed to own guns "as long as we do the correct thing" and handle them safely, he said. He said he doesn’t believe someone who uses drugs should own a gun, but also said people should be allowed to own guns if they are no longer using drugs.

Potential juror #28 qualifies, says he's 'not interested' in news

Potential juror #28 qualified for the jury pool. He said he has read articles about the case on Delaware Online, the web page of The News Journal in Wilmington, but he generally doesn't pay attention to the news and is "not interested" in it.

He said he's aware of specific details of the case, including that Hunter Biden's gun was found in a trash can behind a grocery store. He said he learned those details from the Delaware Online articles.

The potential juror's brother owns guns and goes skeet shooting, but that doesn’t affect his opinion on guns, he said.

Potential juror #27 qualifies, says she believes addiction is a 'disease'

Potential juror #27 was qualified. She said her husband is a police officer in Maryland, but that would not affect her ability to be impartial. She said she had seen some information about Hunter Biden's gun case online at work.

Both of her parents had problems with substance abuse when she was a child, she said, adding that addiction is “a disease.”

She said she doesn’t look down on or judge people who have drug or alcohol problems. Asked by prosecutors if she would be able to hold a person responsible regardless of their “disease,” she said yes. 

Potential juror #26, a prolific gun owner, placed in jury pool

Potential juror #26 was placed into the jury pool. He's a middle-aged Black man who has a concealed carry permit in Delaware and Florida. He said he owns several firearms and has owned more than six over his lifetime.

"I believe our Second Amendment is very important," he said.

Potential juror #25 says he's an acquaintance of Jill Biden's and believes Trump cases are political

Potential juror #25 said he was "an acquaintance with the first lady." He said this while Jill Biden was in the room, although it was unclear if he knew the first lady was there.

The man said he also met Joe Biden at several events. The man said he donated to the RNC “recently.” He was also a campaign manager for a city councilman years ago.

He was placed in the pool.

In terms of what this man knew about this case, he said he was aware of two Trump cases, the Florida case and "the New York trial that just happened." 

Asked if those two events were political in nature, the man said, "I believe they have been," adding, "I think there’s some political interest going on there."

Potential juror #21 excused for questionnaire answers

Potential juror #21 was excused prior to voir dire due to the answers on his questionnaire.

Potential juror #24 excused after saying she has strong feelings about gun ownership

Potential juror #24 was excused after saying she had heard a lot about the case from “everything that’s been on the news.” She said she watches CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the evening news and other sources of news and added that she has strong feelings about who should have guns. She said she does not believe that everyone should be allowed to own assault-style rifles, for example.

Potential juror #23 was struck, says he's an immigrant who's unfamiliar with U.S. laws

Potential juror #23 was struck, which the defense motioned for. An older male with accented English, he indicated he would have scheduling difficulties because he teaches summer classes at Delaware State University, and as an immigrant, he did not have much familiarity with U.S. laws. He also said he is not as comfortable with topics outside of his area of expertise in chemistry.

The government did not object to the defense’s motion to strike him. 

Potential juror #22 was excused after saying he has a negative view of Hunter Biden

Potential juror #22 was excused after he indicated he’s seen a lot on the news and in social media that would give him a negative view of Hunter Biden and would affect his impartiality. 

Potential juror #20 qualifies, says federal law enforcement undertook political prosecutions during the civil rights era

Potential juror #20 qualified. He's a younger man and a recent graduate who said he believes federal law enforcement has prosecuted due to politics, referring to the civil rights movement.

But he made the distinction that his views were about history, not necessarily about the present and said he "absolutely" could put those beliefs aside in this case.

He also said he received a DUI and pleaded guilty. The government asked if that gave him a negative opinion of law enforcement, and he said it did not.

Potential juror #19 qualifies, says she doesn't think marijuana smokers should be banned from owning guns

Potential juror #19 was qualified. She said she doesn’t think that people who smoke marijuana shouldn’t be allowed to own guns.

“Weed to me isn’t as bad as other drugs,” she said, giving heroin as an example.

Potential juror #18 qualifies, says her family members had substance abuse issues

Potential juror #18 qualified. She said she has a midday doctor's appointment next week and a family trip to the beach that is scheduled to begin next Thursday.

She said she heard about the case on the news but doesn’t “really dig into stuff.” She said her main source of news is "NBC Nightly News" with Lester Holt. 

She had a job interview with the FBI years ago but didn’t get the position. She currently works at a hospital in Delaware as a patient care technician. She also said her dad had alcohol issues and her uncle had drug problems, but both are in recovery and “doing fine.” 

The parties didn’t object to the juror, and she was qualified, but Judge Noreika warned that she will be excused for her vacation next Thursday if court is still in session then.

Potential juror #17 qualifies, says she met the president's brother-in-law before

Potential juror #17 was qualified. She said she didn’t know anyone in the case personally, but recalled she had served John “Jack” Owens, Joe Biden’s brother-in-law, when she was a bartender.

She said she saw Owens in the hallway today and figured she should let the court know about that connection. Her best friend went to rehab three years ago and still attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but she said that would not affect her ability to be impartial.

Potential juror #16 says she heard about the case on YouTube

Potential juror #16 qualified. She said she had heard about the case in general on YouTube but doesn't know much about it otherwise. She also said her mother has bought a gun in the past but she doesn’t know about the paperwork or process that goes into buying a gun in Delaware.

Potential juror #15 struck for cause after indicating DOJ is too political

Potential juror #15 was struck for cause. He said he had heard about the case on the news this morning but didn’t know too much about it.

When asked why he answered yes to the question about the Department of Justice prosecuting people based on politics, he said “I think they have” and cited Donald Trump’s New York trial. 

Potential juror #14 excused after saying her opinion of the Bidens is 'not a good one'

Potential juror #14 was excused for cause after saying she couldn't be impartial. She was a middle-aged woman and she said she heard about this story when “Biden was running for president.” 

“I don’t think I could be fair and impartial from my personal opinion," she said.

When prosecutor Derek Hines asked what her personal opinion was, she said, “Not a good one. Sorry."

Hunter Biden's wife and first lady Jill Biden are seated next to each other

Hunter Biden's wife, Melissa Cohen, and first lady Jill Biden are seated next to each other beyond Hunter Biden. Cohen is taking copious notes. Hunter Biden is wearing glasses, and is also taking notes and reading through documents at the defense table.

No indication jurors know the first lady is here

There is no indication the jurors know Jill Biden is here, because they are escorted into the courtroom during this voir dire next to the judge’s bench. While answering these questions, they are standing next to the witness stand.

Potential juror #13 says he's 'seen stuff in the news'

Potential juror #13 is a middle-aged man with three kids. He said he works in finance.

“I just obviously have seen stuff in the news," he said, but added, “I don’t pay too much attention to it.”

12th potential juror placed into the pool

The 12th potential juror was put into the jury pool. 

He is a nonwhite male who had a scheduling concern for next week, but said it was a dentist appointment, and he would try to reschedule. He said he reads The Guardian and CNN, works in retail and is trained in chemistry.

Potential juror #10 placed in jury pool while #11 was excused

Potential juror #10 was placed in the jury pool while potential juror #11 was excused for his inability to be impartial.

Eighth and ninth potential jurors excused for saying work issues

The eighth and ninth potential jurors were excused for cause due to missing work that would cause hardship.

The eighth potential juror was middle-aged and wearing a black mask in court.

The ninth potential juror is a self-employed carpenter and said two weeks without work would lead to being “bankrupt.”

Sixth potential juror has strong opinions on gun ownership

The sixth potential juror qualified for the jury despite an objection from the defense.

She indicated that she has strong views on gun ownership, believing that politicians care “more about money” than gun safety. Judge Noreika had to ask her multiple times if she could put aside her views on that to decide on this case impartially.

“I’d try,” she said first before more definitively saying “I would” put those views aside.

She also mentioned that her husband would be out of town next week for two days and her child care obligations would mean she couldn’t get to the court before 9:30 a.m. She also has a vacation booked for June 17 to 20, which would be an issue if the trial took longer than expected.

The defense moved to strike her for cause over her vacation putting potential pressure on her to make a quick decision and her views on gun ownership.

The government objected. Judge Noreika ruled against the defense, saying that the potential juror’s final answer on guns was “emphatic” and that the vacation in two weeks was not an issue. 

Fifth potential juror worked for the Secret Service

The fifth potential juror was qualified with no objections. She worked for the U.S. Secret Service in Washington, D.C., along with her husband, who was uniformed.

When asked by the defense about any deployments with the Secret Service in Washington, she indicated a variety of locations.

Fourth potential juror struck for financial hardship

The fourth potential juror was struck by the prosecution for financial hardship. She is a full-time, hourly worker and is the sole income earner for her family of three.

Third potential juror qualified with no objections

The third potential juror qualified with no objections from either party. She said she has heard about the case on "CBS Evening News," which she watches every night as her only regular news source.

She said her sister has a history with drug addiction and was convicted in Delaware for credit card fraud and drug charges about 10 years ago, but is “currently clean.” Nothing about her sister’s history would affect her impartiality, she said.

Second potential juror volunteered for Hillary Clinton

The second potential juror was qualified without objections from either party. She donated and volunteered for the Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign, but said she could be impartial toward Hunter Biden.

“I don’t see any relation between the politics,” she said in response to the judge’s questions.

First potential juror struck for cause

The first potential juror on the stand was struck for cause after he said he could not be impartial about the law.

“I believe it’s a God-given right,” he said regarding gun ownership.

Voir dire begins

Examination of the jurors began around 9:10 a.m. At the start, the judge qualified one juror who had not answered yes to any of the voir dire questions. That potential juror did not take the stand. 

President Biden proclaims love and support for Hunter

In a statement this morning, President Joe Biden said, “I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today."

"Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us. A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean," he said.

He continued, "As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength. Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”

Family and friends of Hunter Biden sit in first row behind defense table

Hunter Biden is seated in the middle of the defense table, with his lawyer Abbe Lowell to his right.

Sitting in the first row behind the defense table is Jack Owen, who is President Joe Biden’s brother-in-law, Kevin Morris, who is Hunter’s friend and benefactor, his half-sister Ashley Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter's wife, Melissa Cohen, and members of the U.S. Secret Service.

Court proceeding in gun trial are underway

When Hunter Biden walked into the courthouse, he had to go through security just like everyone else. In fact, he had to wait about 30 seconds for the metal detector to reset. The court security officer apologized to Hunter for the wait, and Hunter took it in stride, saying “It’s alright!”

Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell and his team came into the courthouse with several binders and folders.

Lowell and prosecutors were cordial with each other in the moments before proceedings began.

Hunter Biden walked into the courtroom at just before 8:30 a.m. He motioned to a friend to make sure a seat was saved for his wife, Melissa Cohen. 

Proceedings then began in the main courtroom at 8:47 a.m., but as of 9 a.m., journalists were not allowed inside the main courtroom due to the number of potential jurors filling gallery seats. All journalists were in the overflow room, where the audio-only feed was not working.

Ashley Biden, Hunter Biden's half-sister, also attending trial

Ashley Biden, the daughter of Joe and Jill Biden and the half-sister of Hunter Biden, is also at the courthouse this morning.

First lady Jill Biden arrives at the courthouse

First lady Jill Biden arrived at the courthouse at 8:30 a.m. She is the stepmother of Hunter Biden, whose biological mother, Neilia Biden, was killed in a car crash when he was 2 years old.

Hunter Biden arrives at the courthouse

Rebecca Kaplan

Hunter Biden has arrived at the courthouse in Wilmington ahead of jury selection.

Jury selection set to begin in Hunter Biden gun case

Dareh Gregorian

Jury selection is set to begin today in the federal gun case  against  Hunter Biden  in Delaware.

The president's son faces three counts  tied to possession of a gun while using narcotics. He has pleaded not guilty.

The beginning of the trial comes just days after the conclusion of a criminal trial against the man his father is running against in the presidential race, former President Donald Trump. Trump was convicted of all 34 counts against him in state court in New York.  

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika said she plans on calling potential jurors in groups of 50 until they’re able to find 12 people who say they can be impartial when it comes to Hunter Biden.

Read the full story here.

Where is President Biden today?

Megan Lebowitz

President Joe Biden is starting his day in Wilmington, where the trial is taking place.

Later in the day, he'll head to White Plains, New York, and continue on to Greenwich, Connecticut, for a campaign reception.

Trial starts days after anniversary of Beau Biden's death

Hunter Biden's trial is starting just days after the ninth anniversary of his brother Beau Biden's death. Beau Biden died in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer.

The president commemorated the anniversary in church and by visiting the cemetery where his son is buried.

Biden visited the house of Beau Biden's wife, Hallie Biden, last week, as well. She is expected to be called to testify for the prosecution.

What to expect in court today

Jury selection starts today and is expected to last one or two days. Ultimately, 12 jurors and four alternates will be selected.

About 250 prospective jurors could be evaluated to serve on the jury.

Noreika will ask prospective jurors to answer dozens of questions about their knowledge of the case and the topics that will be discussed, such as guns, addiction and politics.

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Read the Jury Instructions in the Trump Manhattan Criminal Trial

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The judge in former President Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, Juan M. Merchan, issued instructions to jurors on Wednesday that serve as a guide to applying the law in deliberations.

A PDF version of this document with embedded text is available at the link below:

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Post-Summation Instructions Introduction Members of the jury, I will now instruct you on the law. I will first review the general principles of law that apply to this case and all criminal cases. You have heard me explain some of those principles at the beginning of the trial. I am sure you can appreciate the benefits of repeating those instructions at this stage of the proceedings. Next, I will define the crimes charged in this case, explain the law that applies to those definitions, and spell out the elements of each charged crime. Finally, I will outline the process of jury deliberations. These instructions will take at least an hour, and you will not receive copies of them. You may however, request that I read them back to you in whole or in part as many times as you wish, and I will be happy to do so. Page | 1

Role of Court and Jury During these instructions, I will not summarize the evidence. If necessary, I may refer to portions of the evidence to explain the law that relates to it. My reference to evidence, or my decision not to refer to evidence, expresses no opinion about the truthfulness, accuracy, or importance of any particular evidence. In fact, nothing I have said in the course of this trial was meant to suggest that I have an opinion about this case. If you have formed an impression that I do have an opinion, you must put it out of your mind and disregard it. The level of my voice or intonation may vary during these instructions. If I do that, it is done to help you understand. It is not done to communicate any opinion about the law or the facts of the case or of whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours. You are the judges of the facts, and you are responsible for deciding whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Page 2

Reminder: Fairness Remember, you have promised to be a fair juror. A fair juror is a person who will keep their promise to be fair and impartial and who will not permit the verdict to be influenced by a bias or prejudice in favor of or against a person who appeared in this trial on account of that person's race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation, and further, a fair juror must be mindful of any stereotypes or attitudes about people or about groups of people that the juror may have, and must not allow those stereotypes or attitudes to affect their verdict. As I have explained, we all develop and hold unconscious views on many subjects. Some of those unconscious views may come from stereotypes and attitudes about people or groups of people that may impact on a person's thinking and decision- making without that person even knowing it. As a juror, you are asked to make a very important decision about another member of the community. I know you would not want to make that decision based on such stereotypes or attitudes, that is, on what we call implicit biases, and it would be wrong for you to do so. A fair juror must guard against the impact of such stereotypes or attitudes. You can do this by asking yourself during your deliberations whether your views and conclusions would be different if the defendant, witnesses or others that you have heard about or seen in court were of a different race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religious practice, age or sexual orientation, or if they did not have a disability. If the answer is yes, then, in keeping with your promise to be fair, reconsider your views and conclusions along with the other jurors, and make sure your verdict is based on the evidence and not on stereotypes or attitudes. Justice requires no less. Page 3

Limiting Instruction Regarding the Defendant Jurors, you will recall that during jury selection you agreed that you would set aside any personal opinions or bias you might have in favor of or against the Defendant, and that you would decide this case fairly on the evidence and the law. Again, I direct you to decide this case on the evidence and the law as it relates to the Defendant here on trial. You must set aside any personal opinions or bias you might have in favor of or against the Defendant, and you must not allow any such opinions to influence your verdict. Page 4

Sentence: Not Consider Remember also, in your deliberations, you may not consider or speculate about matters relating to sentence or punishment. If there is a verdict of guilty, it will be my responsibility to impose an appropriate sentence. Page 5

Evidence When you judge the facts, you are to consider only the evidence. The evidence in the case includes: the testimony of the witnesses, the exhibits that were received in evidence, and the stipulations agreed to by the parties. Remember, a stipulation is information the parties have agreed to present to the jury as evidence, without calling a witness to testify. Testimony which was stricken from the record or to which an objection was sustained must be disregarded by you. Exhibits that were received in evidence are available, upon your request, for your inspection and consideration. Exhibits that were just seen during the trial, or marked for identification but not received in evidence, are not evidence, and are thus not available for your inspection and consideration. But testimony based on those exhibits that were not received in evidence may be considered by you. It is just that the exhibit itself is not available for your inspection and consideration. Page 6

Evidentiary Inferences In evaluating the evidence, you may consider any fact that is proven and any inference which may be drawn from such fact. To draw an inference means to infer, find, conclude that a fact exists or does not exist based upon proof of some other fact or facts. For example, suppose you go to bed one night when it is not raining and when you wake up in the morning, you look out your window; you do not see rain, but you see that the street and sidewalk are wet, and that people are wearing raincoats and carrying umbrellas. Under those circumstances, it may be reasonable to infer, that is conclude, that it rained during the night. In other words, the fact of it having rained while you were asleep is an inference that might be drawn from the proven facts of the presence of the water on the street and sidewalk, and people in raincoats and carrying umbrellas. An inference must only be drawn from a proven fact or facts and then only if the inference flows naturally, reasonably, and logically from the proven fact or facts, not if it is speculative. Therefore, in deciding whether to draw an inference, you must look at and consider all the facts in the light of reason, common sense, and experience. Page 7

REDACTIONS As you know, certain exhibits were admitted into evidence with some portions blacked out or redacted. Those redactions were made to remove personal identifying information and to ensure that only relevant admissible evidence was put before you. You may not speculate as to what material was redacted or why, and you may not draw any inference, favorable or unfavorable against either party, from the fact that certain material has been redacted. Page 8

Limiting Instructions You may recall that I instructed you several times during the trial that certain exhibits were being accepted into evidence for a limited purpose only and that you were not to consider that evidence for any other purpose. Under the law we refer to that as a limiting instruction. I will now remind you of some of the limiting instructions you were given during the trial. AMI - You will recall that you heard testimony that while David Pecker was an executive at AMI, AMI entered into a non- prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, as well as a conciliation agreement with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). I remind you that evidence was permitted to assist you, the jury, in assessing David Pecker's credibility and to help provide context for some of the surrounding events. You may consider that testimony for those purposes only. Neither the non-prosecution agreement, nor the conciliation agreement is evidence of the Defendant's guilt, and you may not consider them in determining whether the Defendant is guilty or not guilty of the charged crimes. Michael Cohen - You also heard testimony that the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") conducted an investigation into the payment to Stormy Daniels and of responses submitted by Michael Cohen and his attorney to the investigation. That evidence was permitted to assist you, the jury, in assessing Michael Cohen's credibility and to help provide context for some of the surrounding events. You may consider that evidence for those purposes only. Likewise, you will recall that you heard testimony that Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Election Campaign Act, otherwise known as FECA. I remind you that evidence was permitted to assist you, the jury, in assessing Mr. Cohen's credibility as a witness and to help provide context for some of the events that followed. You may Page 9

consider that testimony for those purposes only. Neither the fact of the FEC investigation, Mr. Cohen and his attorney's responses or the fact that Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty, constitutes evidence of the Defendant's guilt and you may not consider them in determining whether the Defendant is guilty or not guilty of the charged crimes. - Wall Street Journal News articles You will recall that certain Wall Street Journal news articles were accepted into evidence during the trial. I remind you now that the articles were accepted and may be considered by you for the limited purpose of demonstrating that the articles were published on or about a certain date and to provide context for the other evidence. The exhibits may not be considered by you as evidence that any of the assertions in the articles is true. - Other hearsay evidence not accepted for its truth – There were other exhibits which contained hearsay and were not accepted for the truth of the matter asserted but for another purpose. For example, there were several National Enquirer headlines and an invoice from Investor Advisory Services (People's 161). Those were accepted for the limited purpose of demonstrating that the articles were published and the document created. There were also some text messages that were accepted with a similar limitation. For example, People's Exhibit 171.A with respect to Gina Rodriguez's texts only and 257 with respect to Chris Cuomo's texts only. Those text messages were accepted for the limited purpose of providing context for the responses by Dylan Howard and Michael Cohen. The exhibits which were accepted into evidence with a limiting instruction are 152, 153.A, 153.B, 153.C, 161, 171.A, 180, 181 and 257. Page 10

If you have any additional questions or need clarification as to which exhibits were accepted into evidence with limitations, just send me a note with your question and I will be happy to clarify. Presumption of Innocence We now turn to the fundamental principles of our law that apply in all criminal trials-the presumption of innocence, the burden of proof, and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Throughout these proceedings, the defendant is presumed to be innocent. As a result, you must find the defendant not guilty, unless, on the evidence presented at this trial, you conclude that the People have proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In determining whether the People have satisfied their burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you may consider all the evidence presented, whether by the People or by the defendant. In doing so, however, remember that, even though the defendant introduced evidence, the burden of proof remains on the People. Defendant Did Not Testify The fact that the defendant did not testify is not a factor from which any inference unfavorable to the defendant may be drawn. Page 11

Burden of Proof The defendant is not required to prove that he is not guilty. In fact, the defendant is not required to prove or disprove anything. To the contrary, the People have the burden of proving the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That means, before you can find the defendant guilty of a crime, the People must prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime including that the defendant is the person who committed that crime. The burden of proof never shifts from the People to the defendant. If the People fail to satisfy their burden of proof, you must find the defendant not guilty and if the People satisfy their burden of proof, you must find the defendant guilty. Page 12

Reasonable Doubt What does our law mean when it requires proof of guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt"? The law uses the term, "proof beyond a reasonable doubt," to tell you how convincing the evidence of guilt must be to permit a verdict of guilty. The law recognizes that, in dealing with human affairs, there are very few things in this world that we know with absolute certainty. Therefore, the law does not require the People to prove a defendant guilty beyond all possible doubt. On the other hand, it is not sufficient to prove that the defendant is probably guilty. In a criminal case, the proof of guilt must be stronger than that. It must be beyond a reasonable doubt. A reasonable doubt is an honest doubt of the defendant's guilt for which a reason exists based upon the nature and quality of the evidence. It is an actual doubt, not an imaginary doubt. It is a doubt that a reasonable person, acting in a matter of this importance, would be likely to entertain because of the evidence that was presented or because of the lack of convincing evidence. Proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that leaves you so firmly convinced of the defendant's guilt that you have no reasonable doubt of the existence of any element of the crime or of the defendant's identity as the person who committed the crime. In determining whether the People have proven the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you should be guided solely by a full and fair evaluation of the evidence. After carefully evaluating the evidence, each of you must decide Page 13

whether that evidence convinces you beyond a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt. Whatever your verdict may be, it must not rest upon baseless speculation. Nor may it be influenced in any way by bias, prejudice, sympathy, or by a desire to bring an end to your deliberations or to avoid an unpleasant duty. If you are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of a charged crime, you must find the defendant not guilty of that crime and if you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of a charged crime, you must find the defendant guilty of that crime. Page 14

Credibility of Witnesses Introduction As judges of the facts, you alone determine the truthfulness and accuracy of the testimony of each witness. You must decide whether a witness told the truth and was accurate, or instead, testified falsely or was mistaken. You must also decide what importance to give to the testimony you accept as truthful and accurate. It is the quality of the testimony that is controlling, not the number of witnesses who testify. Accept in Whole or in Part (Falsus in Uno) If you find that any witness has intentionally testified falsely as to any material fact, you may disregard that witness's entire testimony. Or, you may disregard so much of it as you find was untruthful, and accept so much of it as you find to have been truthful and accurate. Credibility factors There is no particular formula for evaluating the truthfulness and accuracy of another person's statements or testimony. You bring to this process all of your varied experiences. In life, you frequently decide the truthfulness and accuracy of statements made to you by other people. The same factors used to make those decisions, should be used in this case when evaluating the testimony. Page 15

In General Some of the factors that you may wish to consider in evaluating the testimony of a witness are as follows: Did the witness have an opportunity to see or hear the events about which he or she testified? Did the witness have the ability to recall those events accurately? Was the testimony of the witness plausible and likely to be true, or was it implausible and not likely to be true? Was the testimony of the witness consistent or inconsistent with other testimony or evidence in the case? Did the manner in which the witness testified reflect upon the truthfulness of that witness's testimony? To what extent, if any, did the witness's background, training, education, or experience affect the believability of that witness's testimony? Did the witness have a conscious bias, hostility or some other attitude that affected the truthfulness of the witness's testimony? Did the witness show an "unconscious bias," that is, a bias that the witness may have even unknowingly acquired from stereotypes and attitudes about people or groups of people, and if so, did that unconscious bias impact that witness's ability to be truthful and accurate. Page | 16

Motive You may consider whether a witness had, or did not have, a motive to lie. If a witness had a motive to lie, you may consider whether and to what extent, if any, that motive affected the truthfulness of that witness's testimony. If a witness did not have a motive to lie, you may consider that as well in evaluating the witness's truthfulness. Benefit You may consider whether a witness hopes for or expects to receive a benefit for testifying. If so, you may consider whether and to what extent it affected the truthfulness of the witness's testimony. Interest/Lack of Interest You may consider whether a witness has any interest in the outcome of the case, or instead, whether the witness has no such interest. You are not required to reject the testimony of an interested witness, or to accept the testimony of a witness who has no interest in the outcome of the case. You may, however, consider whether an interest in the outcome, or the lack of such interest, affected the truthfulness of the witness's testimony. Page 17

Previous Criminal Conduct You may consider whether a witness has been convicted of a crime or has engaged in criminal conduct, and if so, whether and to what extent it affects your evaluation of the truthfulness of that witness's testimony. You are not required to reject the testimony of a witness. who has been convicted of a crime or has engaged in criminal conduct, or to accept the testimony of a witness who has not. You may, however, consider whether a witness's criminal conviction or conduct has affected the truthfulness of the witness's testimony. Page 18

Inconsistent Statements You may consider whether a witness made statements at this trial that are inconsistent with each other. You may also consider whether a witness made previous statements that are inconsistent with his or her testimony at trial. You may consider whether a witness testified to a fact here at trial that the witness omitted to state, at a prior time, when it would have been reasonable and logical for the witness to have stated the fact. In determining whether it would have been reasonable and logical for the witness to have stated the omitted fact, you may consider whether the witness' attention was called to the matter and whether the witness was specifically asked about it. If a witness has made such inconsistent statements or omissions, you may consider whether and to what extent they affect the truthfulness or accuracy of that witness's testimony here at this trial. The contents of a prior inconsistent statement are not proof of what happened. You may use evidence of a prior inconsistent statement only to evaluate the truthfulness or accuracy of the witness's testimony here at trial. Page 19

Consistency You may consider whether a witness's testimony is consistent with the testimony of other witnesses or with other evidence in the case. If there were inconsistencies by or among witnesses, you may consider whether they were significant inconsistencies related to important facts, or instead were the kind of minor inconsistencies that one might expect from multiple witnesses to the same event. Witness Pre-trial Preparation You have heard testimony about the prosecution and defense counsel_speaking to a witness about the case before the witness testified at this trial. The law permits the prosecution and defense counsel to speak to a witness about the case before the witness testifies, and permits a prosecutor and defense counsel to review with the witness the questions that will or may be asked at trial, including the questions that may be asked on cross-examination. You have also heard testimony that a witness read or reviewed certain materials pertaining to this case before the witness testified at trial. The law permits a witness to do so. Speaking to a witness about his or her testimony and permitting the witness to review materials pertaining to the case before the witness testifies is a normal part of preparing for trial. It is not improper as long as it is not suggested that the witness depart from the truth. Page | 20

Identification The People have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt, not only that a charged crime was committed, but that the defendant is the person who committed that crime. Thus, even if you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that a charged crime was committed by someone, you cannot convict the defendant of that crime unless you are also convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he is the person who committed that crime. Page 21

Accomplice as a Matter of Law Under our law, Michael Cohen is an accomplice because there is evidence that he participated in a crime based upon conduct involved in the allegations here against the defendant. Our law is especially concerned about the testimony of an accomplice who implicates another in the commission of a crime, particularly when the accomplice has received, expects or hopes for a benefit in return for his testimony. Therefore, our law provides that a defendant may not be convicted of any crime upon the testimony of an accomplice unless it is supported by corroborative evidence tending to connect the defendant with the commission of that crime. In other words, even if you find the testimony of Michael Cohen to be believable, you may not convict the defendant solely upon that testimony unless you also find that it was corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime. The corroborative evidence need not, by itself, prove that a crime was committed or that the defendant is guilty. What the law requires is that there be evidence that tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime charged in such a way as may reasonably satisfy you that the accomplice is telling the truth about the defendant's participation in that crime. In determining whether there is the necessary corroboration, you may consider whether there is material, believable evidence, apart from the testimony of Michael Cohen, which itself tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime. Page 22

You may also consider whether there is material, believable evidence, apart from the testimony of Michael Cohen, which, while it does not itself tend to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime charged, it nonetheless so harmonizes with the narrative of the accomplice as to satisfy you that the accomplice is telling the truth about the defendant's participation in the crime and thereby tends to connect the defendant to the commission of the crime. Page | 23

The Charged Crimes I will now instruct you on the law applicable to the charged offenses. That offense is Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree 34 Counts. - Page 24

Accessorial Liability Our law recognizes that two or more individuals can act jointly to commit a crime, and that in certain circumstances, each can be held criminally liable for the acts of the others. In that situation, those persons can be said to be "acting in concert" with each other. Our law defines the circumstances under which one person may be criminally liable for the conduct of another. That definition is as follows: When one person engages in conduct which constitutes an offense, another is criminally liable for such conduct when, acting with the state of mind required for the commission of that offense, he or she solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or intentionally aids such person to engage in such conduct. Under that definition, mere presence at the scene of a crime, even with knowledge that the crime is taking place, or mere association with a perpetrator of a crime, does not by itself make a defendant criminally liable for that crime. In order for the defendant to be held criminally liable for the conduct of another which constitutes an offense, you must find beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) That he solicited, requested, commanded, importuned, or intentionally aided that person to engage in that conduct, and (2) That he did so with the state of mind required for the commission of the offense. Page | 25

If it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is criminally liable for the conduct of another, the extent or degree of the defendant's participation in the crime does not matter. A defendant proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be criminally liable for the conduct of another in the commission of a crime is as guilty of the crime as if the defendant, personally, had committed every act constituting the crime. The People have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with the state of mind required for the commission of the crime, and either personally, or by acting in concert with another person, committed each of the remaining elements of the crime. Your verdict, on each count you consider, whether guilty or not guilty, must be unanimous. In order to find the defendant guilty, however, you need not be unanimous on whether the defendant committed the crime personally, or by acting in concert with another, or both. Page 26

The Charged Crimes I will now instruct you on the law applicable to the charged offense. That offense is FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE – 34 COUNTS. - FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE Penal Law § 175.10 Under our law, a person is guilty of falsifying business. records in the first degree when, with intent to defraud that includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof, that person: makes or causes a false entry in the business records of an enterprise. The following terms used in that definition have a special meaning: ENTERPRISE means any entity of one or more persons, corporate or otherwise, public or private, engaged in business, commercial, professional, industrial, social, political or governmental activity. BUSINESS RECORD means any writing or article, including computer data or a computer program, kept or maintained by an enterprise for the purpose of evidencing or reflecting its condition or activity. Page 27

INTENT means conscious objective or purpose. Thus, a person acts with intent to defraud when his or her conscious objective or purpose is to do so. Intent does not require premeditation. In other words, intent does not require advance planning. Nor is it necessary that the intent be in a person's mind for any particular period of time. The intent can be formed, and need only exist, at the very moment the person engages in prohibited conduct or acts to cause the prohibited result, and not at any earlier time. The question naturally arises as to how to determine whether a defendant had the intent required for the commission of a crime. To make that determination in this case, you must decide if the required intent can be inferred beyond a reasonable doubt from the proven facts. In doing so, you may consider the person's conduct and all of the circumstances surrounding that conduct, including, but not limited to, the following: what, if anything, did the person do or say; what result, if any, followed the person's conduct; and was that result the natural, necessary and probable consequence of that conduct. Therefore, in this case, from the facts you find to have been proven, decide whether you can infer beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the intent required for the commission of this crime. Page 28

INTENT TO DEFRAUD As I previously explained, a person acts with intent to defraud when his or her conscious objective or purpose is to do SO. In order to prove an intent to defraud, the People need not prove that the defendant acted with the intent to defraud any particular person or entity. A general intent to defraud any person or entity suffices. Intent to defraud is also not constricted to an intent to deprive another of property or money and can extend beyond economic concerns. INTENT TO COMMIT OR CONCEAL ANOTHER CRIME For the crime of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, the intent to defraud must include an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof. Under our law, although the People must prove an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof, they need not prove that the other crime was in fact committed, aided, or concealed. Page 29

NEW YORK ELECTION LAW § 17-152 PREDICATE The People allege that the other crime the defendant intended to commit, aid, or conceal is a violation of New York Election Law section 17-152. Section 17-152 of the New York Election Law provides that any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of conspiracy to promote or prevent an election. Under our law, a person is guilty of such a conspiracy when, with intent that conduct be performed that would promote or prevent the election of a person to public office by unlawful means, he or she agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct. Knowledge of a conspiracy does not by itself make the defendant a coconspirator. The defendant must intend that conduct be performed that would promote or prevent the election of a person to public office by unlawful means. Intent means conscious objective or purpose. Thus, a person acts with the intent that conduct be performed that would promote or prevent the election of a person to public office by unlawful means when his or her conscious objective or purpose is that such conduct be performed. Evidence that defendant was present when others agreed to engage in the performance of a crime does not by itself show that he personally agreed to engage in the conspiracy. Page 30

"By Unlawful Means" Although you must conclude unanimously that the defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means, you need not be unanimous as to what those unlawful means were. In determining whether the defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means, you may consider the following: (1) violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act otherwise known as FECA; (2) the falsification of other business records; or (3) violation of tax laws. THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT The first of the People's theories of “unlawful means" which I will now define for you is the Federal Election Campaign Act. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, it is unlawful for an individual to willfully make a contribution to any candidate with respect to any election for federal office, including the office of President of the United States, which exceeds a certain limit. In 2015 and 2016, that limit was $2,700. It is also unlawful under the Federal Election Campaign Act for any corporation to willfully make a contribution of any amount to a candidate or candidate's campaign in connection with any federal election, or for any person to cause such a corporate contribution. For purposes of these prohibitions, an expenditure made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate or his agents shall be considered to be a contribution to such candidate. Page 31

The terms CONTRIBUTION and EXPENDITURE include anything of value, including any purchase, payment, loan, or advance, made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for federal office. Under federal law, a third party's payment of a candidate's expenses is deemed to be a contribution to the candidate unless the payment would have been made irrespective of the candidacy. If the payment would have been made even in the absence of the candidacy, the payment should not be treated as a contribution. FECA's definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" do not include any cost incurred in covering or carrying a news story, commentary, or editorial by a magazine, periodical publication, or similar press entity, so long as such activity is a normal, legitimate press function. This is called the press exemption. For example, the term legitimate press function includes solicitation letters seeking new subscribers to a publication. FALSIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS RECORDS The second of the People's theories of "unlawful means" which I will define for you now is the falsification of other business records. Under New York law, a person is guilty of Falsifying. Business Records in the Second Degree when with intent to defraud, he or she makes or causes a false entry in the business records of an enterprise. Page 32

I previously defined for you the terms enterprise, business records, and intent to defraud. For purposes of determining whether Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree was an unlawful means used by a conspiracy to promote or prevent an election here, you may consider: (i) the bank records associated with Michael Cohen's account formation paperwork for Resolution Consultants LLC and Essential Consultants LLC accounts; (ii) the bank records associated with Michael Cohen's wire to Keith Davidson; (iii) the invoice from Investor Advisory Services Inc. to Resolution Consultants LLC; and (iv) the 1099-MISC forms that the Trump Organization issued to Michael Cohen. Page 33

VIOLATION OF TAX LAWS The People's third theory of “unlawful means" which I will define for you now is a Violation of Tax Laws. Under New York State and New York City law, it is unlawful to knowingly supply or submit materially false or fraudulent information in connection with any tax return. Likewise, under federal law, it is unlawful for a person to willfully make any tax return, statement, or other document that is fraudulent or false as to any material matter, or that the person does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter. Under these federal, state, and local laws, such conduct is unlawful even if it does not result in underpayment of taxes. COUNT-SPECIFIC In order for you to find the defendant guilty of the crime of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree under Count 1 of the Indictment, the People are required to prove, from all of the evidence in the case, beyond a reasonable doubt, each of the following two elements: 1. That on or about February 14, 2017, in the county of New York and elsewhere, the defendant, personally, or by acting in concert with another person or persons, made or caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, specifically, an invoice from Michael Cohen dated February 14, 2017, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization; and Page 34

2. That the defendant did so with intent to defraud that included an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof. If you find the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt each of those two elements, you must find the defendant guilty of this crime. If you find the People have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt either one or both of those two elements, you must find the defendants not guilty of this crime. You have now heard me define the law for Count One. There are thirty-three remaining counts in the indictment. Each for Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and each occurring in New York County. The only difference is that each count pertains to a different business record and possibly a different date. The underlying law applies in the same way to each of the remaining counts so I will only repeat it in full one more time before I read Count 34. Of course, you can ask me to repeat the law in its entirety as many times as you wish and I will be happy to do so. The second count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, dated February 14, 2017, bearing voucher number 842457, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The third count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, dated February 14, 2017, bearing voucher number 842460, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The fourth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Account check and check stub dated February 14, 2017, bearing check number 000138, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. Page | 35

The fifth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated March 16, 2017, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The sixth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, dated March 17, 2017, bearing voucher number 846907, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The seventh count pertains to a Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Account check and check stub dated March 17, 2017, bearing check number 000147, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The eighth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated April 13, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The ninth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated June 19, 2017, bearing voucher number 858770, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The tenth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated June 19, 2017, bearing check number 002740, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The eleventh count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated May 22, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. Page 36

The twelfth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated May 22, 2017, bearing voucher number 855331, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The thirteenth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated May 23, 2017, bearing check number 002700, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The fourteenth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated June 16, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The fifteenth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated June 19, 2017, bearing voucher number 858772, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The sixteenth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated June 19, 2017, bearing check number 002741, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The seventeenth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated July 11, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The eighteenth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated July 11, 2017, bearing voucher number 861096, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. Page 37

The nineteenth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated July 11, 2017, bearing check number 002781, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twentieth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated August 1, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twenty-first count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated August 1, 2017, bearing voucher number 863641, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twenty-second count pertains to a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated August 1, 2017, bearing check number 002821, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twenty-third count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated September 11, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The twenty-fourth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated September 11, 2017, bearing voucher number 868174, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twenty-fifth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump. account check and check stub dated September 12, 2017, bearing check number 002908, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. Page 38

The twenty-sixth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated October 18, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The twenty-seventh count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated October 18, 2017, bearing voucher number 872654, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twenty-eighth count pertains to a Donald J. Trump. account check and check stub dated October 18, 2017, bearing check number 002944, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The twenty-ninth count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated November 20, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump. Organization. The thirtieth count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated November 20, 2017, bearing voucher number 876511, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The thirty-first count pertains to a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated November 21, 2017, bearing check number 002980, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The thirty-second count pertains to an invoice from Michael Cohen dated December 1, 2017, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. Page 39

The thirty-third count pertains to an entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, dated December 1, 2017, bearing voucher number 877785, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization. The Thirty Fourth Count is also Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree but as it pertains to a check and check stub dated December 5, 2017. I will now repeat for you the law pertaining to the crime of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree in its entirety. FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE Penal Law § 175.10 Under our law, a person is guilty of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree when, with intent to defraud that includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof, that person: makes or causes a false entry in the business records of an enterprise. The following terms used in that definition have a special meaning: ENTERPRISE means any entity of one or more persons, corporate or otherwise, public or private, engaged in business, commercial, professional, industrial, social, political or governmental activity. BUSINESS RECORD means any writing or article, including computer data or a computer program, kept or maintained by an enterprise for the purpose of evidencing or reflecting its condition or activity. Page 40

INTENT means conscious objective or purpose. Thus, a person acts with intent to defraud when his or her conscious objective or purpose is to do so. Intent does not require premeditation. In other words, intent does not require advance planning. Nor is it necessary that the intent be in a person's mind for any particular period of time. The intent can be formed, and need only exist, at the very moment the person engages in prohibited conduct or acts to cause the prohibited result, and not at any earlier time. The question naturally arises as to how to determine whether a defendant had the intent required for the commission of a crime. To make that determination in this case, you must decide if the required intent can be inferred beyond a reasonable doubt from the proven facts. In doing so, you may consider the person's conduct and all of the circumstances surrounding that conduct, including, but not limited to, the following: what, if anything, did the person do or say; what result, if any, followed the person's conduct; and was that result the natural, necessary and probable consequence of that conduct. Therefore, in this case, from the facts you find to have been proven, decide whether you can infer beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the intent required for the commission of this crime. Page 41

INTENT TO DEFRAUD As I previously explained, a person acts with intent to defraud when his or her conscious objective or purpose is to do SO. In order to prove an intent to defraud, the People need not prove that the defendant acted with the intent to defraud any particular person or entity. A general intent to defraud any person or entity suffices. Intent to defraud is also not constricted to an intent to deprive another of property or money and can extend beyond economic concerns. INTENT TO COMMIT OR CONCEAL ANOTHER CRIME For the count of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, the intent to defraud must include an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof. Under our law, although the People must prove an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof, they need not prove that the other crime was in fact committed, aided, or concealed. Page 42

NEW YORK ELECTION LAW § 17-152 PREDICATE The People allege that the other crime the defendant intended to commit, aid, or conceal is a violation of New York Election Law section 17-152. Section 17-152 of the New York Election Law provides that any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of conspiracy to promote or prevent an election. Under our law, a person is guilty of such a conspiracy when, with intent that conduct be performed that would promote or prevent the election of a person to public office by unlawful means, he or she agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct. Knowledge of a conspiracy does not by itself make the defendant a coconspirator. The defendant must intend that conduct be performed that would promote or prevent the election of a person to public office by unlawful means. Intent means conscious objective or purpose. Thus, a person acts with the intent that conduct be performed that would promote or prevent the election of a person to public office by unlawful means when his or her conscious objective or purpose is that such conduct be performed. Evidence that defendant was present when others agreed to engage in the performance of a crime does not by itself show that he personally agreed to engage in the conspiracy. Page 43

"By Unlawful Means" Although you must conclude unanimously that the defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means, you need not be unanimous as to what those unlawful means were. In determining whether the defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means, you may consider the following unlawful means: (1) violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act otherwise known as FECA; (2) the falsification of other business records; or (3) violation of tax laws. THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT The first of the People's theories of “unlawful means" which I will now define for you is the Federal Election Campaign Act. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, it is unlawful for an individual to willfully make a contribution to any candidate with respect to any election for federal office, including the office of President of the United States, which exceeds a certain limit. In 2015 and 2016, that limit was $2,700. It is also unlawful under the Federal Election Campaign Act for any corporation to willfully make a contribution of any amount to a candidate or candidate's campaign in connection with any federal election, or for any person to cause such a corporate contribution. For purposes of these prohibitions, an expenditure made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate or his agents shall be considered to be a contribution to such candidate. Page 44

The terms CONTRIBUTION and EXPENDITURE include anything of value, including any purchase, payment, loan, or advance, made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for federal office. Under federal law, a third party's payment of a candidate's expenses is deemed to be a contribution to the candidate unless the payment would have been made irrespective of the candidacy. If the payment would have been made even in the absence of the candidacy, the payment should not be treated as a contribution. FECA's definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" do not include any cost incurred in covering or carrying a news story, commentary, or editorial by a magazine, periodical publication, or similar press entity, so long as such activity is a normal, legitimate press function. This is called the press exemption. For example, the term legitimate press function includes solicitation letters seeking new subscribers to a publication. FALSIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS RECORDS The People's second theory of "unlawful means" which I will define for you is the falsification of other business records. Under New York law, a person is guilty of Falsifying. Business Records in the Second Degree when with intent to defraud, he or she makes or causes a false entry in the business records of an enterprise. I previously defined for you the terms enterprise, business records, and intent to defraud. Page 45

For purposes of determining whether Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree was an unlawful means used by a conspiracy to promote or prevent an election here, you may consider: (i) the bank records associated with Michael Cohen's account formation paperwork for the Resolution Consultants LLC and Essential Consultants LLC accounts; (ii) the bank records associated with Michael Cohen's wire to Keith Davidson; (iii) the invoice from Investor Advisory Services Inc. to Resolution Consultants LLC; and (iv) the 1099-MISC forms that the Trump Organization issued to Michael Cohen. VIOLATION OF TAX LAWS The People's third theory of "unlawful means" which I will define for you is a Violation of Tax Laws. Under New York State and New York City law, it is unlawful to knowingly supply or submit materially false or fraudulent information in connection with any tax return. Likewise, under federal law, it is unlawful for a person to willfully make any tax return, statement, or other document that is fraudulent or false as to any material matter, or that the person does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter. Under these federal, state, and local laws, such conduct is unlawful even if it does not result in underpayment of taxes. Page 46

In order for you to find the defendant guilty of the crime of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree under Count 34, the People are required to prove, from all of the evidence in the case, beyond a reasonable doubt, each of the following two elements: 1. That on or about December 5, 2017, in the county of New York and elsewhere, the defendant, personally, or by acting in concert with another person or persons, made or caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, specifically, a Donald J. Trump account check and check stub dated December 5, 2017, bearing check number 003006, and kept or maintained by the Trump Organization; and 2. That the defendant did so with intent to defraud that included an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof. If you find the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt both of those two elements, you must find the defendant guilty of this crime. If you find the People have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt either one or both of those two elements, you must find the defendants not guilty of this crime. Page 47

Motive When Not Element of Crime Let me now explain motive, and in particular, the difference between motive and intent. Intent means conscious objective or purpose. Thus, a person commits a criminal act with intent when that person's conscious objective or purpose is to engage in the act which the law forbids or to bring about an unlawful result. Motive, on the other hand, is the reason why a person chooses to engage in criminal conduct. If intent is an element of a charged crime, that element must be proved by the People beyond a reasonable doubt. this case, intent is, as I have explained, an element of the crime of Falsifying Business Records in the First degree. Motive, however, is not an element of the crimes charged. Therefore, the People are not required to prove a motive for the commission of the charged crimes. Nevertheless, evidence of a motive, or evidence of the lack of a motive, may be considered by the jury. For example, if you find from the evidence that the defendant had a motive to commit the crime charged, that is a circumstance you may wish to consider as tending to support a finding of guilt. On the other hand, if the proof establishes that the defendant had no motive to commit the crime charged, that is a circumstance you may wish to consider as tending to establish that the defendant is not guilty of the crime charged. Page 48

Deliberations Your verdict, on each count you consider, whether guilty or not guilty, must be unanimous; that is, each and every juror must agree to it. To reach a unanimous verdict you must deliberate with the other jurors. That means you should discuss the evidence and consult with each other, listen to each other, give each other's views careful consideration, and reason together when considering the evidence. And when you deliberate, you should do so with a view towards reaching an agreement if that can be done without surrendering individual judgment. Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but only after a fair and impartial consideration of the evidence with the other jurors. You should not surrender an honest view of the evidence simply because you want the trial to end, or because you are outvoted. At the same time, you should not hesitate to reexamine your views and change your mind if you become convinced that your position was not correct. Page 49

Jury Note Taking Some jurors took notes. Any notes taken are only an aid to your memory and must not take precedence over your independent recollection. Those jurors who chose not to take notes must rely on their own independent recollection and must not be influenced by any notes that another juror may have taken. Any notes you took are only for your own personal use in refreshing your recollection. A juror's notes are not a substitute for the recorded transcript of the testimony or for any exhibit received in evidence. If there is a discrepancy between a juror's recollection and his or her notes regarding the evidence, you should ask to have the relevant testimony read back or the exhibit produced in the jury room. In addition, a juror's notes are not a substitute for the detailed explanation I have given you of the principles of law that govern this case. If there is a discrepancy between a juror's recollection and his or her notes regarding those principles, you should ask me to explain those principles again, and I will be happy to do so. Page 50

Exhibits, Readback & Law Questions You may see any or all of the exhibits that were received in evidence. Simply write me a note telling me which exhibit or exhibits you want to see. You may also have the testimony of any witness read back to you in whole or in part. Again, if you want a read back, write me a note telling me what testimony you wish to hear. If you are interested in hearing only a portion of a witness' testimony, please specify in your note which witness and, with as much detail as possible, which part of the testimony you want to hear. Of course, when testimony is read back, questions to which an objection was sustained and material otherwise struck from the record is not read back. If you have a question on the law, write me a note specifying what you want me to review with you. Page 51

Foreperson's Role Under our law, the first juror selected is known as the foreperson. During deliberations, the foreperson's opinion and vote are not entitled to any more importance than that of any other juror. What we ask the foreperson to do during deliberations is to sign any written note that the jury sends to the court. The foreperson does not have to write the note or agree with its contents. The foreperson's signature indicates only that the writing comes from the jury. The foreperson may also chair the jury's discussions during deliberations. When the jury has reached a verdict, guilty or not guilty, the entire jury will be asked to come into court. The foreperson will be asked whether the jury has reached a verdict. If the foreperson says yes, the foreperson will then be asked what the verdict is for each charged count. After that, the entire jury will be asked whether that is their verdict and will answer yes or no. Finally, upon the request of a party, each juror will be asked individually whether the announced verdict is the verdict of that juror, and upon being asked, each juror will answer yes or no. Page 52

Verdict Sheet The I will give you a form known as a verdict sheet. verdict sheet lists each count submitted for your consideration and the possible verdicts. Please use the form to record your verdict with an X or a check mark in the appropriate place. In addition to listing the counts, I have added some additional language on the verdict sheet in order to distinguish the counts: You will notice that I have indicated whether a count pertains to an invoice, a voucher or a check. For the invoices, I have added the date and for the vouchers and checks I have added the number. The sole reason for doing this is to help you distinguish between the various counts. It is not a substitute for my full instructions on the meaning and elements of each charge, and it should not discourage you from asking me to define a crime again if a question about it arises. Page 53

Jury Deliberation Rules Finally, there are a few remaining rules which you must observe during your deliberations. 1. While you are here in the courthouse, deliberating on the case, you will be kept together in the jury room. You may not leave the jury room during deliberations. Lunch will of course be provided. If you have a cell phone or other electronic device, please give it to a court officer to hold for you while you are engaged in deliberations. 2. You must deliberate about the case only when you are all gathered together in the jury room. You must not, for example, discuss the case as you go to and from the courtroom. It is important that each juror have the opportunity to hear whatever another juror has to say about the case, and that by law must only be done when you are all gathered together in the jury room. Thus, if for any reason, all twelve of you are not gathered together in the jury room, please stop deliberating until you are all present. 3. During your deliberations, you must discuss the case only among yourselves; you must not discuss the case with anyone else, including a court officer, or permit anyone other than a fellow juror to discuss the case in your presence. 4. If you have a question or request, you must communicate with me by writing a note, which you will give to a court officer to give to me. The law requires that you communicate with me in writing in part to make sure there are no misunderstandings. 5. We will work every day until about 4:30. However, we can work later if the jury wishes to do so and all the jurors are in agreement. Simply send me a note as early in the day as possible and let me know that you wish to stay beyond 4:30 and if so, what time you would like to work until. Depending on the time you select, we may order dinner for you. I should explain that, under our law, I am not permitted to have a conversation about the facts of the case, or a possible verdict, or the vote of the jury on any count with any one juror, or group of jurors, or even all the jurors. Thus, in any note that you send me, do not tell me what the vote of the jury is on any count.

If a juror wants to speak to me during deliberations, a meeting here in the courtroom with the parties will be arranged. No juror, however, can tell me what is being said about the facts of the case, or a possible verdict, or what the vote of any juror or the jury is on any count. And, while I will of course listen to whatever a juror has to say that does not involve those subjects, I may not be able to respond to that juror if the response involves instructions on the law. I may be required to call into court the entire jury and respond by speaking to the entire jury. The reason for that is that our law wants to make sure that each and every juror hears, at exactly the same time, whatever I have to say about the law, and our law wants to make sure that the jury hears those instructions from me and not from another juror. That concludes my instructions on the law.

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

Guilty Verdict : Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts  of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his bid for the White House in 2016, making him the first American president to be declared a felon .

What Happens Next: Trump’s sentencing hearing on July 11 will trigger a long and winding appeals process , though he has few ways to overturn the decision .

Reactions: Trump’s conviction reverberated quickly across the country  and around the world . Here’s what voters , New Yorkers , Republicans , Trump supporters  and President Biden  had to say.

The Presidential Race : The political fallout of Trump’s conviction is far from certain , but the verdict will test America’s traditions, legal institutions and ability to hold an election under historic partisan tension .

Making the Case: Over six weeks and the testimony of 20 witnesses, the Manhattan district attorney’s office wove a sprawling story  of election interference and falsified business records.

Legal Luck Runs Out: The four criminal cases that threatened Trump’s freedom had been stumbling along, pleasing his advisers. Then his good fortune expired .