Former President Trump lashed out at the judge in his criminal hush money case early Monday morning, hours before the first criminal trial against a former U.S. president began.
President Trump reiterated complaints he has made for months, claiming that Judge Juan Melchán is corrupt and that the charges against him are inherently political and baseless, calling the entire effort a “witch hunt.” ” he called.
“The radical left Democrats have already rigged the 2024 presidential election by filing or helping to file all these bogus lawsuits against me, which will put me in court. “They are forcing us to spend campaign money on campaigning. They knocked out crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in American history, on the spot,” he wrote one early morning. real social posts. “Election interference!”
Jury selection for President Trump’s criminal hush money trial begins Monday in Manhattan, with prosecutors claiming the former president illegally concealed payments made late in the 2016 presidential campaign to cover up a past affair. are doing.
Trump also renewed his condemnation of the gag order against him, which was expanded after earlier social media posts criticizing Marchand’s wife and daughter.
“I want my voice back. This crooked judge gagged me. It’s unconstitutional!” Trump I have written. “They can talk about me, but I’m not allowed to talk about them. It’s an unfair trial!”
It is unclear whether President Trump will testify during the trial, but he is expected to attend the trial in person, including Monday’s hearing.
President Trump has paid off his then-fixer Michael Cohen for paying porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. He faces 34 related low-level felony counts of falsifying business records.
The former president denies having an affair, but maintains his innocence.
High-profile witnesses in the case are expected to include Daniels and Cohen, as well as former executives at the Trump Organization and some members of Trump’s 2016 campaign staff close to the former president.
The trial is expected to last about six weeks and is the first of four criminal charges against the former president. The hush money trial is generally considered the least serious of the four cases, but it could be the only one to reach a jury before Election Day in November.
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