Former President Donald Trump has once again criticized New York federal Judge Juan Merchan — who is presiding over the presidential candidate’s trial related to falsified business documents — for keeping him away from a separate case being heard in the Supreme Court.
The embattled Republican is facing more than 30 felony charges related to supposedly misdocumented business records allegedly connected to hush money payments made by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. At the heart of the case is a story that Daniels and Trump had a romantic fling almost 20 years ago and accusations that the politician paid her to keep it a secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges as well as denied having an affair with Daniels.
Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, the Supreme Court of the United States is hearing a separate case brought against the former president by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who argues that Trump engaged in election interference in 2020 and other federal offenses, linked to his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the Capitol.
A claim has been filed by Trump’s legal team seeking to confirm that he has presidential immunity from prosecution. This motion is being heard by the Supreme Court this week and will keep Smith’s trial on hold until a decision is reached. When the defendant requested to be allowed to leave Manhattan to hear the opening arguments in the immunity case, Merchan refused.
Instead, the judge threatened the former president with arrest if he failed to appear in the courtroom every day of the trial, where he is being prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The rejection of the request to hear arguments in Washington, D.C., comes after Merchan indicated he would not immediately decide to let Trump off the hook for missing court dates to attend his son’s high school graduation in Florida next month.
Regarding the most recent rejection for leniency, Trump said Merchan believes himself to be “above the Supreme Court” by refusing to let him attend “the most important case in many years” to be held at the nation’s highest court. After Trump’s legal team made the request last week, Merchan acknowledged that the Supreme Court case “is a big deal” that is understandably important for the former president, who wants to attend.
But, he added, the case being heard in New York’s highest court “is also a big deal,” hence the judge’s denial of Trump’s request. Trump further stated that most legal experts across the nation are in agreement that “this case should not have been brought” against him in the first place.
The former president’s criticism follows backlash he directed at Merchan and others earlier this week related to what he calls a “crooked” attempt to muzzle him and accused the judge of working against him in line with Democrat President Joe Biden’s alleged “witch hunt” against his Republican opponent.
JUST IN: Trump rips Judge Juan Merchan of New York despite the gag order, writes, "We have a Rigged Judge, who is working for the Democrat Party and refuses to terminate this “case,” which should have never been brought by Soft on Crime Alvin Bragg. Judge Merchan should… pic.twitter.com/4AA4S5xJRV
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) April 24, 2024
