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According to attorneys who have appeared in Judge Juan Merchan's Manhattan courtroom, the jurist is fair, patient, listens well and is, as one colleague called him, "Bright, kind of chill."
That should be good news for Donald Trump who will be appearing before Merchan next week when he is brought up on the reported thirty charges contained in a sealed indictment being handled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Unfortunately for the former president, Merchan has already overseen another case involving Trump and has witnessed first-hand how the former president's lawyers have conducted themselves and so he is well aware of the stunts they might try to pull.
According to the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, Merchan was the judge who ruled in the Trump Organization tax fraud case that resulted in a $1.6 million judgment, as well as sending CFO Allen Weisselberg to jail, and the normally even-keeled judge was highly critical of Trump's legal team's conduct in the courtroom.
As Pagliery wrote, "Trump’s [previous] legal tactics absolutely set him off," adding, "While presiding over the tax fraud trial of two Trump Organization companies in December, Merchan repeatedly lost his patience as Trump’s corporate lawyers broke the rules—leading witnesses, reading parts of transcripts jurors weren’t allowed to hear, and trying to distract the jury by duping them into thinking the case was about Trump the man, not his companies."
RELATED: Ivanka is 'flailing' as Trump indictment slams family
"At one point during the trial, he repeatedly dragged Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. attorneys into a quiet sidebar to privately admonish them for making baseless objections to interrupt prosecutors—only to have them defy him minutes later, forcing the judge to send the jury out of the room," sternly telling them, 'It’s your responsibility to make sure… this doesn’t happen again,'" Pagliery wrote.
With the recent history in mind, and with Trump lashing out at the judge already on social media, the report suggests Trump's lawyers will likely be on a short leash in a trail that will have the country's undivided attention.
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Colette Maze has been playing piano for more than a century, and is still drawing thousands of fans on social media.
Born in June 1914, before the outbreak of World War I and when one of her favorite composers, Claude Debussy, was still alive, the French pianist practices four hours a day and is about to release her seventh album, "108 Years of Piano".
From her apartment overlooking the Seine river in Paris, Maze moves cautiously between the three pianos in her living room, but retains a youthful enthusiasm.
"Me? I'm young," she says with a smile.
"Age is not something I'm interested in. There are people who are forever young, amazed by everything, and then there are people who don't care about anything and never loved anything, even their man -- can you imagine?" she adds.
'Piano is my life'
Maze was a piano teacher for much of her life, and it was only after turning 100 that she started building a significant fanbase -- through her Facebook page.
Many are inspired by her continuing good health and refusal to give up the traditional French pleasures of wine, cheese and chocolate.
"She gives people strength -- that's why she has such crazy success," said her son, journalist Fabrice Maze, adding with pride that she is one of the few people over 100 releasing albums.
She still remembers the sound of "Big Bertha", the huge cannon used by the German army during World War I, but most of her memories revolve around her instrument.
"When I was little, I suffered from asthma and my mother would play violin with my piano teacher -- it would calm me," she says.
"Piano is my life, my friend. I need to feel it and hear it," she adds, before offering a rendition of Debussy's "Reflections in the Water".
Maze began playing at five, and despite reluctance from her parents, she won a place at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with teachers including the renowned Alfred Cortot.
Cortot was known for a method of relaxing all the muscles of the body -- which Maze credits with sparing her from arthritis.
The other secret to her youth? "I did a lot of dancing," she says. "I need to feel my muscles, my abdominals, my thighs, my arms. All that must be alive."
© 2023 AFP
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The U.S. Capitol Police and the Senate Sergeant at Arms on Friday jointly issued a statement warning they "anticipate" Trump protests across the country. The statement is not time-specific, and it states it has no information on "credible threats," but some Democratic offices are allowing staffers to work from home Friday and Tuesday.
"The Sergeant at Arms and United States Capitol Police (USCP) anticipate demonstration activity across the country related to the indictment of former President Trump. While law enforcement is not tracking any specific, credible threats against the Capitol or state offices, there is potential for demonstration activity. USCP is working with law enforcement partners, so you may observe a greater law enforcement presence on Capitol Hill," the statement reads.
"The SAA and USCP are monitoring the potential nationwide impacts to Senate state offices," it adds.
The House Sergeant at Arms was conspicuously absent from the statement. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has control over that office.
Additionally, Axios is reporting, "several House Democrats are allowing staffers to work from home as a safety precaution," noting that "the memory of Trump supporters ransacking the Capitol on Jan. 6 is still fresh on the mind."
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) is allowing staff to work from home for safety reasons. She told Axios, "I don't ever want to see a Jan. 6 again."
"I've been in the Trump hate tunnel, Donald Trump has gone after me, and quite frankly I don't have security. I don't have entourages."
She's not the only Democrat to raise concerns.
"Much of the language from the former President and his devotees is similar to what inspired Jan. 6th," U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips said. "I'm concerned about safety for my colleagues and my staff."
Meanwhile, House Republicans are issuing full-throated support for Trump and calling for protests.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who was called out by name in a six-page letter Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sent to Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan Friday morning, announced she will be in New York on Tuesday to support Trump when he is arraigned. She has posted several tweets since Trump was indicted.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy issued a statement Thursday seemingly designed to gin up rage and action in the MAGA base.
"Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election. As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump. The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account."
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