All posts tagged "Judge Merchan"

Judge Juan Merchan, the jurist overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money cover-up case which just saw the former president convicted of 34 felonies, "must say no" to Trump's latest gag order request, according to a former impeachment counsel.

Norman Eisen, former impeachment counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, argued on Sunday that Trump "is clamoring to get back on the attack" with his request for Merchan to suspend the gag order the ex-president violated at least 10 times.

Eisen, who previously served as a U.S. ambassador and in senior White House and congressional staff roles, wrote the piece along with former federal prosecutor Andrew Warren. It's called, "Trump wants his gag order lifted. Judge Merchan must say no."...

Former President Donald Trump is increasingly enraging Judge Juan Merchan with his antics that appear to be calculated to intimidate witnesses and jurors, Aaron Blake wrote for The Washington Post.

The New York trial, where Trump is accused of business fraud for concealing an alleged hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in a purported scheme to undermine the 2016 presidential election, has already seen Merchan fine the former president for contempt of court — and threaten him with jail.

"It’s not just that he’s violated his gag order 10 times. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has also cited three instances of what he suggests could be witness or juror intimidation by Trump," wrote Blake. "Some experts say Trump’s actions are ambiguous enough that Merchan might be reluctant to sanction him. But the judge appears to be broadly losing patience with Trump’s antics."...

Judge Juan Merchan has Donald Trump "under his thumb," a former federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Legal analyst Joyce Vance, who frequently comments on how the Trump criminal cases are being tried, highlighted the former president's gag order hearing.

Vance noted that the judge was "not impressed" with Trump's team's defense of his recent comments about the New York jury....

Judge Juan Merchan, the jurist overseeing Donald Trump's criminal case in New York over an alleged hush-money cover up scheme, is hanging something over the head of the former president's attorneys, a former prosecutor said on Saturday.

Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti appeared on MSNBC, where he was asked why Merchan hasn't ruled on whether Trump has violated an expanded gag order imposed upon him in the case. The order limits Trump's attacks on potential witnesses and jurors in the case, and prosecutors have alleged at least 10 separate violations by Trump, according to public records in the court system.

"Why didn't he rule after the first 10 times he allegedly violated the gag order?" the host asked the attorney....

Donald Trump's attorneys keep getting on the bad side of the New York judge presiding over former president's criminal hush money trial.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan nearly browbeat Trump's attorney Emil Bove over what prosecutors alleged was a "totally improper line of questioning" regarding the cross-examination of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

Bove had been pricking Pecker, the 72-year-old who used to lord over The National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. (AMI), over his recollection of a 2015 Trump Tower meeting. ...

Donald Trump hasn't listened to anyone telling him to sit down since he was sent to boarding school, but that streak ended with Judge Juan Merchan the other day, according to a man who was in the room at the time that it happened.

During an appearance on MSNBC, columnist and longtime Washington insider Jonathan Alter set the scene for what happened when Merchan instructed Trump to have a seat. It has been reported that Trump was "fuming" after being made to sit like a dog would.

The host asked Alter how the event might affect Trump's "psyche."...