Former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, USA, on Thursday, April 18, 2024.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
Donald Trump took to social media on Saturday to unleash another tirade against the judge and the circumstances of his New York hush money trial, which concluded jury selection on Friday and is expected to begin opening proceedings on Monday.
“This fraudulent ‘rushed’ trial taking place in a 95% Democratic area is a planned and coordinated witch hunt,” the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee wrote in one of several Truth Social posts Saturday morning. “THIS IS THE PRESIDENT OF possibly the most controversial judge in the history of the judiciary who must be removed from this hoax immediately.”
The rant came a day after Trump’s lawyers asked that the trial be delayed to find a new location, claiming that New York City residents were too biased to find a fair jury.
A Manhattan appeals court quickly rejected Trump’s request, the latest of about a dozen attempts to postpone the trial, which was originally scheduled to begin March 25.
Despite Trump’s efforts to delay the trial, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s case, said opening arguments in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president would begin Monday morning.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with his alleged cover-up of a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s social media tirades against Merchan and others involved in the trial have become a regular pattern for the former president, despite a gag order imposed in March.
Trump has publicly lashed out at the judge’s daughter, who worked for a progressive political consulting firm, and has repeatedly called on the judge to recuse himself.
Prosecutors on Monday called on Merchan to punish Trump for his apparent violations of the gag order, pointing in particular to three of his social media posts that targeted several witnesses, including Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Prosecutors sought a $1,000 fine for each of the three posts and asked the judge to warn Trump that future violations could result in prison time.
Merchan said he would schedule a hearing on the prosecution’s motion for Wednesday.
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2024-04-20 16:40:51
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