Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy said on Friday that New York state judge Juan Marchan will allow prosecutors to not reveal who they will call next as a witness, saying former President Donald Trump had no right to call a “fair” witness. He accused the government of depriving the government of “procedures.”
Former National Enquirer media executive David Pecker appeared before prosecutors Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in his trial over the $130,000 he paid porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 as part of a non-disclosure agreement. He took the stand as the first witness for his side. McCarthy said Marchand failed to properly prepare Trump’s lawyers for cross-examination by not disclosing who would be called next. (Related article: Jonathan Turley says Alvin Bragg is pursuing President Trump’s immunity suit ‘for his own benefit’)
“The judge is not forcing the prosecution to at least tell you who the next two or three witnesses are,” McCarthy told Fox News Chief Legal Correspondent Shannon Bream. “This is all posturing in defiance of the gag order. The theory behind the gag order, which incorporates Democratic partisan talking points, is that even if President Trump has not said anything overtly threatening to the witness, , his statement is a kind of dog whistle to all his supporters around the world, to harass the witnesses, so their names cannot be published.”
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Marchand issued the expansion order on April 1 after the former president criticized the judge’s daughter Lauren in multiple posts on Truth Social. One Link to New York Post report About how clients of Lauren Marchand’s firm raised $93 million from prosecuting Trump in the case.
“At this point, not just the four corners of this lawsuit, but the cumulative effect of all of these lawsuits, there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on Trump, or a significant diminishment of Trump’s due process rights, and it’s going to be very difficult for Trump. “I really think it’s about preparing the defense for any one of those things,” McCarthy continued. “Now, if you implement this gag order in a way that the names of the witnesses have to be withheld, we’re going into a weekend where the lawyers have to prepare for next week’s trial and who the witnesses are. “You never know who’s going to be next and who should be prepared for cross-examination. It’s not really a fair process. But Judge Marchand doesn’t seem as bothered by this issue as many of us seem to think about President Trump’s due process rights. ”
President Trump will face a hearing next Thursday to question his alleged violations of the executive order, following a hearing this Tuesday in which prosecutors argued that the former president violated the executive order 10 times.
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