Donald Trump made an appearance in court on Monday for jury selection during his so-called “hush money” trial.
Judge Juan Merchan delivered a firm ultimatum to former President Donald Trump regarding his presence on the first day of his criminal trial. According to MSNBC’s Jesse Rodrigeuz, Merchan told Trump he has to be in the courtroom every day for the duration of his trial.
“If you do not show up, there will be an arrest,” Merchan warned.
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. The judge is essentially preventing Trump from campaigning for president.
In 2020, Merchan made a small donation to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Despite this and other conflicts of interest, Merchan refused to recuse himself from the case.
How much more proof do you need that this is election interference?
Via Forbes:
Trump has repeatedly blasted the case as a “witch hunt” and revamped his criticism ahead of jury selection Monday morning, arguing in aTruth Social tirade that the charges against him constitute a violation of New York’s statute of limitations. In that Truth Social post, the former president repeated another argument he has used since his indictment last year, asking why prosecutors waited roughly seven years from his 2016 presidential campaign to bring charges, the time when prosecutors said former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels to stay quiet on an alleged affair with Trump. The charges against Trump, however, were filed outside the state’s statute of limitations, following a COVID-19-related extension to the state statute
Trump’s request to attend his son’s graduation ceremony was also denied.
BREAKING 🚨 | President Trump says his request to attend his son’s graduation ceremony has been denied by Judge overlooking his case, was told he would be arrested if he misses a single day of court case.
Listen: pic.twitter.com/vB8tAxacxH
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) April 15, 2024
Trump is correct about legal experts panning the case.
“The prosecution’s star witness is a convicted perjurer and fraudster who openly spews vitriol at the defendant, often in grotesque terms, essentially for a living,” observed CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. “The famously aggressive feds at the Southern District of New York passed on the case years ago, and current Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s predecessor could have indicted [Trump] before he left office but did not.”
For Our VIPs: Why Should Anyone Care if Trump Is Convicted?
Honig added, “The charges are either misdemeanors or the lowest-level felonies (depending on how the jury decides the case), and the vast majority of defendants convicted of similar offenses are sentenced to probation and fines, not prison.”
Jonathan Turley similarly called the case against Trump an “indictment of the New York legal system.”
“Now Bragg is bringing a case that has taken years to develop and millions of dollars in litigation costs for all parties,” he explained. “That is all over a crime from before the 2016 election that is a misdemeanor under state law that had already expired under the statute of limitations.”
Something tells me Trump will raise a decent amount of campaign donations this week.