In the criminal hush-money trial of Donald Trump, the overseeing judge accused Mr Trump’s defence attorney of “losing all credibility”. The judge’s remarks came as he contemplated whether the former American president should face a penalty for breaching a gag order that forbids him from publically lambasting witnesses and others involved in the proceedings.
The prosecution team requested Justice Juan Merchan to impose a $10,000 fine on Mr Trump for contravening the order. However, Todd Blanche, Mr Trump’s defence attorney, insisted that his client was merely reacting to political assaults and should not be penalised. Justice Merchan has yet to make a decision regarding the prosecution’s request.
During a hearing about the issue, Justice Merchan showed signs of irritation when Mr Blanche failed to provide concrete examples of the alleged assaults Mr Trump was responding to. The judge observed that Mr Blanche lacked both legal precedent or evidence to substantiate his claims.
Firing back at Mr Blanche, Justice Merchan stated, “You’ve offered no proof. I’ve requested multiple times that you show me the exact post he was reacting to. You’ve failed to do so even once.”
“Mr Blanche, you’re losing all credibility. You’re rapidly diminishing your credibility with the court,” the judge reiterated.
Following the session, Mr Trump utilised social media to reaffirm his belief that the gag order encroaches on his constitutional right to free speech. “This is a kangaroo court and the presiding judge should step down!” he proclaimed on his Truth Social platform.
The court’s gag order prevents Mr Trump from publically vilifying witnesses, court personnel, and their family members.
Christopher Conroy, the New York prosecutor, asserted that Mr Trump has contravened this order by making posts on Truth Social. He highlighted a post from April 10th where Mr Trump described pornstar Stormy Daniels and his former attorney Michael Cohen as “sleazebags”. Both are set to testify in the first ever criminal trial involving a former US president.
Mr Conroy argued that additional posts garnered media attention which led to a juror recusing last week due to privacy worries. “He’s fully aware of the restrictions, yet he dismisses them,” said Mr Conroy regarding Mr Trump. “His disregard for the order is deliberate and conscious.”
The $10,000 fine requested by Mr Conroy would be a paltry sum for Mr Trump given that he has already posted bonds amounting to $266.6 million appealing civil verdicts in two separate cases.
In a statement, Mr Conroy revealed he isn’t currently requesting Mr Merchan to enforce a potential 30-day jail term under New York legislation to Mr Trump. Oddly, Mr Conroy suggested the individual facing charges seemed to desire such an outcome. In contrast, Mr Blanche insisted his messages merely reflected a reaction to political critiques from Mr Cohen, which didn’t relate to the expected deposition from Trump’s ex-Legal expert.
Alvin Bragg, the District Attorney for Manhattan, charged Mr Trump with falsifying business documents to veil a $130,000 payment made right before the 2016 US General Election. This was an attempt to silence Ms Daniels from discussing a claimed sexual interaction which allegedly occurred in 2016. The case saw Mr Trump profess his innocence and deny any such interaction with Ms Daniels.
Legal experts implicated this as evidence of a wider plot to conceal damaging data from the electorate when facing numerous sexual conduct accusations, contributing to Trump’s marginal election win.
On Monday, the opening defence from Mr Blanche categorically denied any criminal activity by Trump. Protection of his family and reputation were cited as his motivations, with an accusation against Ms Daniels of using deceit for monetary gain.
The following day, additional testimony from former National Enquirer leader Mr Pecker (72), implicated him in a “catch & kill” initiative to suppress damaging narratives about Trump, contributing to his election win.
His company, American Media, confessed in 2018 they funded publications such as the National Enquirer and purchased stories, although this was an irregular journalistic practice. They admitted to paying Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model, $150,000 for her narrative about an affair with Trump during 2006 and 2007. Despite this alleged collaboration with Trump’s campaign, they never released a story.
Conversely, they agreed to pay a doorman $30,000, who unsuccessfully attempted to sell them a false story about Trump having an illegitimate child. Mr Trump has consistently denied any misdemeanour, including flouting election laws or having an affair with Ms McDougal.
The upcoming trial related to one of the four criminal indictments against the Republican’s Trump could potentially be the sole one to occur before the impending November 5th electoral face-off with the incumbent Democratic US president, Joe Biden. Despite the fact that a conviction would not legally prevent Mr Trump from claiming office, it can pose a potential threat to his campaign. According to a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, half of the independent electorate and a quarter of Republicans declare they would abstain from supporting Trump in the event of a successful criminal conviction. – Reuters
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