'Bad stuff happens': Judge Merchan faces hanging threats linked to Trump misinformation

ALSO READ: Republicans now believe Trump 'is going to croak' — and are vying to replace him: insider

'Bad stuff happens': Judge Merchan faces hanging threats linked to Trump misinformation
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in 2011.. - Marc A. Hermann/New York Daily News/TNS

New York Justice Juan Merchan reportedly received death threats after misinformation about the hush money trial was spread by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

NBC News reported multiple conservative news organizations had repeated a false suggestion that the jury verdict did not have to be unanimous in Trump's case.

One Fox News analyst sent a viral message on social media, saying the judge "told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict" Trump.

"That's not true," NBC's Ryan J. Reilly wrote. "[J]urors have to agree unanimously that Trump committed a crime by engaging in a criminal conspiracy to falsify records with the intent to commit one or more other crimes in order to convict him."

However, jurors were given three options as to what the underlying crime could be.

ALSO READ: Five questions you must ask yourself before voting in November

NBC noted that one Gab user responded to the false claims by writing," [It's] time to find out where that judge lives and protest as the left calls it."

"I hear bad stuff happens to judges in their driveways," another user wrote.

A Telegram user suggested a "military tribunal" for the judge.

"[A]nd on the official Telegram channel of Steve Bannon's WarRoom, a user said Merchan 'and all involved' should be hanged," Reilly reported. Another pro-Trump forum also called for Merchan's hanging.

"Merchan wants to be the merchant of death to sell more rope, except he could easily be selling the rope that hangs him," the user said.

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Chuck Grassley scolds reporters as Todd Blanche dodges questions on Gavin Newsom probe

Todd Blanche refused to say Monday whether President Donald Trump's Justice Department is investigating Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom — hours after Newsom went public with the probe.

The moment came during a photo op ahead of Blanche's confirmation meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. When reporters pressed Blanche on the Newsom investigation, Grassley cut them off.

"This is not a news conference," the Iowa Republican said.

Newsom announced earlier Monday that he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are under investigation by the Department of Justice. He called it a political hit job ordered by Trump.

"They have not found a crime," Gov. Newsom wrote on X. "They are simply trying to find one."

Gov. Newsom said he believes he's being targeted because he is considering a 2028 presidential run — and has spent years as one of Trump's most vocal Democratic critics.

Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2. He was Trump's personal criminal defense attorney before taking over the Justice Department — a fact Democrats have repeatedly raised as a conflict of interest.

Blanche was formally nominated on June 8 and faces a contested confirmation, with several Republican senators still uncommitted.

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Mockery abounds over Newsom-DOJ revelation: 'Congrats to his fundraiser'

The internet fired off reactions on Monday after California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the Department of Justice launched an investigation targeting him and his wife.

Newsom claimed that federal agents — under President Donald Trump's orders — have contacted people and organizations connected to California's first lady, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and have begun investigating him as one of the president's political adversaries. The governor and outspoken Trump critic has considered a presidential run for 2028 and cited that as the reason behind the probe.

He dropped a direct message for the president in a video response posted on X.

"Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us," Newsom wrote.

"Mr. President, come after me. I am not going anywhere," Newsom said.

Media and political experts responded to the news.

"Malignant narcissists target anyone who threatens their image and challenges their interests. Especially effective communicators like Newsom who criticize with what seem like accurate allegations," Bob Pickard, principal at Leadership Communication Inc., who has more than 86,000 followers, wrote on X.

"Congrats to Newsom's fundraiser," Igor Bobic, Senate reporter at NOTUS, wrote on X.

"Trump is disgusting," Jennifer Fatzinger, a Democratic political commentator with more than 11,000 followers, wrote on X.

"Newsom's 2028 numbers have been falling the last few months, but with Trump seeking to prosecute him those numbers are bound to go back up," politics and culture writer Nick Field wrote on X.

"What a petty little man-baby Donald is. He constantly lies and wraps himself in a cloack [SIC] of victimhood. But his number one focus, besides his ballroom and momuments [SIC], is weaponizing every branch of government against people who stand up to him," progressive political commentator Janice Hough, who has more than 37,000 followers, wrote on X.

Ex-Trump lawyer condemns DOJ push to investigate Gavin Newsom

Former Trump administration White House attorney Ty Cobb was not at all shocked on Monday to hear reports that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is under federal investigation — but was saddened at the state of the Justice Department.

"I'm not surprised that [Newsom] would announce it," Cobb told MS NOW's Katy Tur, responding to the official video announcement from his office. "I think that's a smart move. There's no reason to hide it."

Cobb added that the fact that the investigation exists at all is predictable, too, noting that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth opened a probe into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — also frequently discussed as a presidential candidate — over his participation in a video reminding troops they can refuse illegal orders. "Newsom's a potential presidential candidate. I think most presidential candidates, just like most presidential candidates, should expect that they will be met with abuses of this sort."

Tur soon followed up by asking Cobb how acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has achieved such a political stranglehold over the rank and file in federal law enforcement. "Why do they go along with what appeared to be political, the political retribution that Donald Trump desires?"

"That's an excellent question," said Cobb. "I think it's sad, obviously."

The issue, he argued, happened with Blanche's predecessor, Pam Bondi, who "made it clear early on in the Great Hall of Justice that she was dedicating her role and her office and her entire department to serving Trump, not the Constitution." And Blanche has continued this on, said Cobb, from his prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey to his involvement in the $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization" slush fund to pay out Trump's allies who were criminally charged in the past.

"I think this is really a tragedy that we have such a lack of character among public servants these days," Cobb added. "And hopefully some will come forward with courage and with integrity."

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