A spokesman for Donald Trump took aim at Judge Juan Merchan in a fiery statement after he ordered the incoming president to return to court for sentencing in his New York fraud case on Jan. 10.
Trump communications director Steven Cheung on Friday hurled insults at Merchan, who ruled against Trump’s motion to dismiss the guilty verdict that resulted in 34 felony convictions. Cheung claimed the ruling conflicted with the Supreme Court’s immunity decision last year and criticized the case being brought to begin with.
“Today’s order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence,” Cheung said Friday. “This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed. President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts.”
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Cheung concluded his rebuke of the judge’s ruling – which came as Congress reconvened and secured a Republican trifecta ahead of Trump’s inauguration – by calling for the judge to reconsider.
“There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead,” he said.
Merchan noted that Trump remains a private citizen until noon on Jan. 20, and added that he would not impose a prison sentence.