Former President Trump declared he is “winning this trial” on Friday moments before his scheduled court appearance for day 11 of his New York criminal trial.
In another impromptu press conference, Trump reiterated his complaints about Judge Juan Merchan and insisted that if he were a “fair judge” the case would have never proceeded to trial.
“They’re doing this because it’s politics. They want to get Biden elected, that’s the only reason,” Trump said, criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to charge him on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush money payments to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.
“The judge is highly conflicted,” Trump continued. “He should not be allowed to be the judge of this case. He is trying to make it as salacious as possible by allowing testimony that has nothing to do with the case. He wants to make it a nice salacious case, try to hurt Trump, but it’s having the opposite effect.”
The former president also accused the judge of violating his constitutional rights with a gag order that prevents Trump from making statements about the witnesses in his criminal case.
“The gag order stops me from talking about people and responding when they say things about me,” Trump said. He said his attorney’s will file a lawsuit today to appeal the gag order.
“So this judge is taking away my constitutional right. And as a Republican candidate and somebody that is leading Biden by a lot, I should be able to respond.”
Judge Juan Merchan took the bench and greeted former President Trump and his legal team on Friday morning as day 11 of Trump’s criminal trial began.
Before witness testimony resumed, Merchan said he wanted to clarify any misunderstanding of his gag order on Trump, who moments ago complained that his constitutional rights were under attack because he is not permitted to respond to witnesses who are testifying against him.
“You have an absolute right to testify at trial,” Merchan told Trump. “That is a constitutional right that cannot be infringe upon.”
“The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prohibit you from testifying in any way,” the judge continued. He clarified the gag order does not apply to statements made on the witness stand and instructed Trump to inform his attorneys if he has any questions.”
