Donald Trump Hammers Judge Ahead of Jury Instructions

Donald Trump has launched a series of attacks on the judge overseeing his hush money trial ahead of a crucial week in proceedings.

In multiple posts on Truth Social on Friday, Trump lashed out at Judge Juan Merchan, labeling him a “conflicted” Democrat-appointed judge. He also attacked the criminal case against him, as closing arguments and jury instructions before deliberations are set to take place in the New York courtroom.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to money he arranged for his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with the former president a secret in the run-up to the 2016 election. The $130,000 sum was listed in Trump’s company records as Cohen’s “legal fees,” which prosecutors suggest was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.

The hush money trial will resume on Tuesday, where the defense and prosecution will present their closing arguments. Merchan indicated that he would then provide jury instructions for about an hour before sending them to deliberate, which could happen Wednesday. Instructions are handed down to ensure jurors understand the charges and laws they will be deliberating on.

In one social media post, Trump wrote: “When the Disgraceful District Attorney and his Thugs, WITH FULL APPROVAL, I assume, by the Highly Conflicted Judge, Juan Merchan, and the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, who are leading the Trial for ELECTION INTERFERENCE purpose, keep talking about the ‘bookkeeping error’ or ‘crime,’ they are referring to the fact that a bookkeeper, with zero influence from or discussion with me, correctly called the payment of a Legal Expense to a lawyer – a Legal Expense.

“In other words, I am being prosecuted because a bookkeeper, who I had no contact with, marked down, from a dropdown menu in the ledger, a Legal Expense to a lawyer as ‘Legal Expense,'” Trump added. “What the hell is wrong with that? And, what else would you call it?

“Any other Judge would not have allowed this SCAM to proceed, and neither did [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg, nor any other Agency in Government, want to bring it. We are fighting against a Rigged New York System of ‘Justice.’ WITCH HUNT!”

In a follow-up post, Trump added: “I HAVE A GREAT CASE, BUT WITH A RIGGED AND CONFLICTED JUDGE. HISTORY PROVES, HOWEVER, THAT I WOULD BE FAR BETTER OFF WITH A BAD CASE AND A GREAT, FAIR, AND HONEST JUDGE!!!”

Trump is currently under a gag order imposed by Merchan to stop him from making public comments about witnesses or others concerned with the trial. The former president is free to speak about Merchan and attack the case against him, under the gag order.

Newsweek has contacted Trump’s campaign via email for comment.

Elsewhere, Trump also referred in a Truth Social post to an opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal editorial board which suggests that Bragg hasn’t presented the evidence “necessary for a conviction” in the hush money trial.

Under New York law, falsifying business records is a misdemeanor unless it was done to conceal another crime. Prosecutors allege that the hush money was disguised as legal fees because it amounted to an illegal campaign contribution as it was paid to help Trump win the 2016 election by preventing negative stories about him from being revealed to voters.

“To get a guilty verdict on the 34 bookkeeping felonies, Mr. Bragg must prove both that Mr. Trump falsified business records, and also that he did it with intent to commit or conceal a second crime,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote.

“Yet there was essentially no direct evidence that Mr. Trump conceived of this all as a scheme to break the law.

“Bragg’s main argument for the second crime is that because the Stormy payoff was primarily meant to influence the 2016 election, it was in effect an illegal donation to Mr. Trump’s campaign. This interpretation of the law is dubious, though put a pin in that for a moment. Did it cross Mr. Trump’s mind that the transaction might be criminal? A nondisclosure agreement on its own is perfectly legal.”

Bragg’s office has been contacted for comment via email.

The editorial board noted that the jury instructions handed down by Merchan “could matter a great deal” with regard to whether Trump gets convicted.

“Judge Merchan said Tuesday he was reserving decision on a request by the defense to tell jurors Mr. Trump must have acted ‘willfully’ to be found guilty,” the board wrote. “Either way, the reality is that hush money isn’t illegal, disguising the bookkeeping is a misdemeanor that’s past its statute of limitations, and Mr. Bragg jury-rigged the felonies using an alleged second crime that doesn’t look like a crime.

“Conviction or no by a Manhattan jury, this is a case that should never have been brought.”