Live updates about Trump’s indictment

Trump’s New Jersey lawyer tells Merchan he’s “frustrated, upset, and believes there’s a grave injustice happening with him”

Donald Trump told a crowd at his New Jersey rally that the only crime he had committed was defending the nation from those who seek to destroy it.

After flying back from New York, after he was charged with felony falsification of business records, Trump said he never thought something like that could happen in America. “The only crime I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”

A grim-faced Trump quietly walked into the New York courthouse. The former president let his lawyers speak, but they only said the two words “not guilty.”

Judge Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case in New York, donated $35 in political contributions to Democrats in 2020, including a $15 contribution to the campaign of Trump’s opponent, President Joe Biden.

In court Tuesday, instead of a rejoinder from Trump, it was his recently hired lawyer, Todd Blanche, who did the talking. He told Merchan that Trump was “frustrated, upset, and believes that there is a grave injustice happening with him being in this courtroom today.”

At the same time, Merchan warned both sides for witnesses and the defendant not to make comments that could incite violence or civil unrest or “jeopardize the safety or well-being of any individuals,” but did not say what would drive any action.

Donald Trump vs. Jack Smith: In the midst of a GOP presidential campaign in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago obstruction case

After being able to jet away from his hometown of New York, the president reverted back to his old ways.

He called two other prosecutors, who are or have investigated him and who are Black, “racist.” Bragg is also described by Trump as an “animal.” Bragg is black as well.

Trump criticized Jack Smith, the Justice Department’s special counsel, who is investigating the handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump may be able to convince his base that he has done nothing wrong but it’s hard to see how they will accept that in such an environment.

Now the wait begins for the long slog of the judicial system to play out, with the next scheduled actions in court months away. Questions about whether his rhetoric could land him in hot water legally were raised when Trump went back to attacking the District Attorney of Manhattan and the New York Judge.

It’s possible that one is taking place during the Republican presidential primary. Donald Trump is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination again. Republicans could support someone with criminal charges in order to win a general election.

Republicans seem to be OK with that right now. Almost 8 in 10 Republicans think Trump should be the next president, and three-quarters think he should.

Republican pollster Sarah Longwell, who is no Trump fan, found during one of her focus groups last week that, for the first time, not a single person said they would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump.

Since Trump voiced the alarm of a potential arrest, his numbers have improved with the GOP. The GOP presidential competitors are scared of offending the base since more anti- Trump Republicans, like Sen. Romney of Utah, are talking about the case. And, according to his campaign, Trump has raised more than $7 million in the days since the indictment.

Jack Smith will be the pilot of the F-35 weapon in the Mar-a-Lago obstruction case that will make it appear as if it’s a water pistol.

When Donald Trump is Daring, he is with a Trump-Hateing Family, as he has suggested in Mar-a-Lago

Because his brand is toxic in competitive states and districts, he needs to do things that will help Republicans win the White House.

A Trump-hating judge is with a Trump-hating family, according to the President during a speech in Mar-a-Lago.

Prosecutors gave the judge a packet of Trump’s posts, raising concerns about veiled threats he made including posting a picture of a baseball bat next to Bragg.

“He’s almost daring the judge,” Honig said. “Ultimately though, as much as the threats and other rhetoric in my view are far over the line, I think that the judge is unlikely to impose a gag order, given the normal First Amendment concerns multiplied by Donald Trump’s ongoing candidacy.”

Trump’s comments Tuesday night indicated he was violating the judge with his rhetoric, says a CNN senior legal analyst.

Trump and his daughter have been attacking the family of Merchan and his firm works for the Biden and Harris campaigns. Trump has also complained about Merchan for presiding over the case against the Trump Organization, which was convicted on tax fraud charges late last year.

Trump and his allies have criticized his daughter for her work with Biden and Harris.

The Authentic Campaigns website lists the Biden-Harris 2020 campaign and Harris’s own unsuccessful presidential primary campaign, which began and ended in 2019, among its clients. Federal campaign finance records show that the Biden campaign paid to the firm in 2020.

Right-wing media outlets captured a screen grab of the LinkedIn page, which was taken down, that shows her as having worked for Harris in the campaign to win the primary election.

The Indictment of the Defendant in the 2016 White House Against the Investigation of a Sexual Relationship between Donald and Stormy Daniels

“That’s a relevant fact here,” Tacopina said. “It is not an attack on the judge or certainly his family. No one is suggesting that anything should happen to the judge or his family, and President Trump’s comments did not in any way, shape or form.”

A source familiar with the court system said that the court administration doesn’t monitor judges’ personal affairs. It was up to the man himself if he wanted to be removed from the case.

What does Biden have to do with this? And it is his daughter. You can’t control your family members,” Agnifilo said. “I don’t think it even comes close to a conflict.”

The grand jury proceedings were going to be a problem for Trump and his lawyers, because of the Logistics of a “protective order” with the defense team.

Merchan set the next hearing date in the case for December 4, nearly eight months away. The August 8 deadline was set for Trump’s lawyers to file a motion to dismiss charges or reduce charges in the case.

“I understand what you are saying,” Merchan said. “I think that is reasonable. You haven’t received a discovery yet. It is difficult to anticipate if you will be ready for trial in January of 2024. The message I would like to deliver is we would like to move ahead as expeditiously as possible, without undue delay.”

The indictment came from a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to keep her from going public with her story of an alleged sexual relationship with Donald Trump.

Trump said in a statement that the case is being led by the Atlanta District Attorney and that she is doing everything she can to indict him over a perfect phone call.

Finally, Trump went on to condemn New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the Trump Organization saying she, “campaigned on ‘I will get Trump.’ I’m going to get him. This was her campaign. Never ran for office. I will get him. Her name is Letitia James,” he said.

Toward the end of his remarks, Trump returned to criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the charges leveled against him Tuesday in New York.

Does Judge Merchan Trump Biden Contribute to the New York State Judicial Court? An Attorney General Revival, Revised (and Revised)

A search of federal election databases does not turn up any additional political contributions for Merchan. The New York state records show that he gave a 99 dollar contribution to the New York state appeals court judge in 2002.

According to CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig, it is surprising that the judge would make political donations of any size to a partisan candidate or cause.

Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics professor at New York University, said that most US jurisdiction have adopted language from the American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct which prohibits judges from solicitation funds for, paying an assessment to or making a contribution.

“The contribution to Biden and possibly the one to ‘Stop Republicans’ would be forbidden unless there is some other explanation that would allow them,” Gillers said.

It would be viewed as trivial given the small sums, according to Gillers. He said if a complaint was made, the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct would remind the judge of the rules.

Gillers said ” absolutely not” if this could be grounds for a legal challenge or recusal. This doesn’t come close to the kind of proof required for recusal.

CNN’s John Miller reports that the New York Police Department is tracking numerous threats against Merchan but has not seen specific, credible threats.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/politics/judge-merchan-trump-biden-contribution/index.html

Comment on Necheles’s comments on the contributions of the late X-ray player to the teleparallel Kaluza-Klein tournament

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles declined to comment on the donations. The former president’s political allies are pointing to contributions as proof that the judge should be removed from the case.