In a tense courtroom showdown, Judge Juan Merchan criticized Donald Trump’s legal team for their attempts to delay the former president’s hush money trial involving Stormy Daniels by accusing New York prosecutors of misconduct and trying to introduce irrelevant evidence. During the heated hearing, Merchan expressed his frustration with Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche for evading his questions and for attempting to link documents from the Mueller report and the 2016 election to the case against Trump.
Trump, 77, faces a 34-count indictment for allegedly falsifying business records connected to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, aimed at keeping their alleged affair out of the public eye during the 2016 presidential campaign. Despite efforts to postpone the trial, it has been delayed by at least a month after the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York handed over more than 200,000 pages of evidence.
On the day of the hearing, Trump also received a significant legal victory in a separate fraud case, as an appeals court reduced his fraud fine from $454 million to $175 million, providing him a 10-day window to make the payment. Inside the courtroom, Trump’s team argued for the inclusion of Michael Cohen’s FBI interviews and evidence from Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, claims Judge Merchan swiftly dismissed as irrelevant.
Merchan’s frustration became evident as he challenged Blanche to cite a single case supporting their accusations of prosecutorial misconduct by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The judge emphasized the seriousness of the allegations and the lack of evidence to back them up.
Throughout the hearing, the defense’s claims for a delay based on the volume of new evidence were met with skepticism by Merchan, who appeared unconvinced by the argument that thousands of pages of new evidence justified postponing the trial for months. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office argued that the defense’s request for a delay was a strategic move to buy time.
As Trump entered the courtroom, he declared the case against him a “witch hunt” and a “hoax,” maintaining his innocence. The courtroom was heavily secured, with a significant presence of court security officers and Secret Service agents, and packed with journalists eager to cover the proceedings.
The trial, which has already seen its start date pushed back, remains a focal point in a series of legal challenges facing the former president. With the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and Trump’s legal team locked in a contentious battle, the outcome of this case could have profound implications for Trump’s future.