Trump accuses judge of making hush money trial ‘as salacious as possible’

Former President Trump said Friday that the judge in charge of his hush money case will make the trial “as despicable as possible” even as Trump’s own lawyers tried to bring up celebrity scandals to harm witnesses. He claimed that he had done so.

“This corrupt and highly inconsistent New York judge, Juan Marchan, will make this trial as despicable as possible, even though these things have nothing to do with this sham lawsuit,” Trump said. We are doing everything we can to help,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Upon arriving at the courthouse, President Trump again took aim at Judge Juan Melchán in remarks to reporters before the hearing began, calling him “very contradictory.”

“They are trying to make it as despicable as possible by allowing testimony that has nothing to do with the incident,” Trump said. “He’s trying to make this a sordid incident to hurt Trump. But it’s counterproductive.”

Trump has been charged with 34 felonies for falsifying business records. The suit is sordid in nature, alleging that late in the 2016 presidential campaign, porn actress Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep her alleged affair with Trump from going public. The focus is on

President Trump has denied having an affair, and his lawyers have pointed out that the hush money payments themselves are not illegal and that the former president did nothing wrong.

The former president’s criticism on Friday may refer to Mr. Marchan’s decision to allow prosecutors to bring charges against former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and Mr. McDougal also has about 10 years left before he is elected president. She is said to have had an affair with Trump a year ago.

Thursday’s trial comes as Trump’s lawyers sought to undermine the credibility of attorney Keith Davidson, who represents two women who paid hush money during Trump’s 2016 campaign. A detour into the graveyard of celebrity scandals.

Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Emile Bove, suggested that Mr. Davidson regularly investigated salacious articles. He brought up that Davidson had previously been investigated on racketeering charges for his dealings with celebrities.