Judge Juan Machan told President Donald Trump’s legal team they have “lost all confidence” during a hearing Tuesday on whether the 45th president violated a gag order in his Manhattan criminal trial. Stated.
“What I have to tell you right now is that you have lost all confidence in the court,” Marchand told Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s court proceedings began with Marchand hearing a prosecutor’s request to hold Trump in contempt for violating a gag order that prohibits court officials from speaking publicly about witnesses or family members.
Marchan imposed a gag order on Trump before the trial began, ordering him to refrain from commenting on the possible participation of witnesses and the prosecution team, and directing others to do so. The gag order allows President Trump to speak publicly about District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Live updates: NY VS. Former President Trump rescinds gag order allegation, Trump trial to resume
Former President Donald Trump, along with his attorney Tod Blanche, appear during Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan state court in 2016 for falsifying business records to hide money paid to hush porn star Stormy Daniels.・Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo makes his opening statement during the hearing before Judge Marchan. This courtroom sketch on April 22, 2024 in New York City, USA. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
The prosecutor’s office argued last week that Trump violated the order on multiple occasions, including on social media, and that he should pay a $1,000 fine for each of those violations. Prosecutors alleged Tuesday that Trump violated the order a total of 10 times.
NY vs. Trump: Judge gives instructions to jury as opening statement begins
Defense attorneys argued during the hearing that President Trump’s comments that allegedly violated the order were in response to the attack. Marchand asked Branch to provide examples of how President Trump has responded to specific incidents.
“I asked eight or nine times, ‘Show me the exact post he was replying to,’ and he never did,” Marchand said.
Trump’s defense team argued that Trump did not violate the order and should not be punished.
Judge Juan Melchan poses for a photo in his New York courtroom on Thursday, March 14, 2024. More than a dozen Manhattan residents will soon become the first Americans in history to be sentenced for a former president accused of a crime. Jury selection in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial is scheduled to begin Monday. (AP)
President Trump has repeatedly denounced gag orders as “unconstitutional” and a means to silence him.
“Judge Juan Marchan (whose daughter is Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam Shifty Schiff, and other representatives of radical liberals), suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, is in prison. I just posted a photo of me. Now it’s another illegal move as they continue to try to strip me of my rights. issued an un-American and unconstitutional ‘order,”’ Trump posted on Truth Social last month. He was under a gag order restricting his ability to speak publicly about the incident.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media after leaving the court during his trial on charges of concealing hush money payments in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 22, 2024. Former President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his first criminal case to go to trial. (Brendan McDiarmid Pool/Getty Images)
After the gag order hearing, the trial will continue until 2pm on Tuesday. The court will again hear from the prosecution’s first witness, former media publisher David Pecker.
NY vs. Trump: First witness takes the stand in Manhattan courtroom
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The lawsuit itself involved President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paying $130,000 to hush claims by former porn actor Stormy Daniels that she allegedly had an affair with the then-real estate mogul in the early 2000s. The focus is on what is said to have been paid for. President Trump has denied his relationship with Daniels.
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Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently recorded the payments as legal costs. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony.
