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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document620 - Filed 02/25/22 Page6of21 Baker, 899 F.3d 123, 130 (2d Cir. 2018) (cleaned up) (quoting United States v. Moon, 718 F.2d 1210, 1234 (2d Cir. 1983)). Mere “[g]ossip and anonymous tips do not satisfy this standard.” United States v. Stewart, 317 F. Supp. 2d 432, 443 (S.D.N.Y. 2004). Rather, “[a]llegations of impropriety must be ‘concrete allegations of inappropriate conduct that constitute competent and relevant evidence.’” Baker, 899 F.3d at 130 (quoting United States v. Ianniello, 866 F.2d 540, 543 (2d Cir. 1989)). The Defendant argues that this is the wrong standard. Maxwell Reply, Feb. 9, 2022, at 8 n.4. But the Defendant does not identify an alternative standard. And the Second Circuit has applied precisely this standard to determine whether a district court should hold a McDonough hearing on the basis of a juror’s nondisclosure during voir dire. Stewart, 433 F.3d at 302-03. The Court is bound to apply this demanding standard. This high standard for an evidentiary hearing intentionally raises an “exacting hurdle” for defendants because “‘motions to set aside a jury verdict are disfavored.” United States v. Ventura, No. 09-CR-1015 (JGK), 2014 WL 259655, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 21, 2014). As the Second Circuit has repeatedly warned, “post-verdict inquiries may lead to evil consequences: subjecting juries to harassment, inhibiting juryroom deliberation, burdening courts with meritless applications, increasing temptation for jury tampering and creating uncertainty in jury verdicts.” Tanniello, 866 F.2d at 543; see also Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107, 119-20 (1987) (citing McDonald v. Pless, 238 U.S. 264, 267-68 (1915)). And an evidentiary hearing “is not held to afford a convicted defendant the opportunity ‘to conduct a fishing expedition.’” Stewart, 433 F.3d at 306 (quoting Moon, 718 F.2d at 1234). The Defendant argues that the considerations in Tanner and Janniello are inapplicable to her motion because those cases “involved alleged conduct during trial and, crucially, during DOJ-OGR-00009547