• Judge Merchan has a 'tool' to make Trump's lawyers 'rein in their client': ex-prosecutor

    Judge Juan Merchan, the jurist overseeing Donald Trump's criminal case in New York over an alleged hush-money cover up scheme, is hanging something over the head of the former president's attorneys, a former prosecutor said on Saturday. Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti appeared on MSNBC, where he was asked why Merchan hasn't ruled on whether Trump has violated an expanded gag order imposed upon him in the case. The order limits Trump's attacks on potential witnesses...

  • Donald Trump calls Judge Juan Merchan 'crooked' after threat of jail time if he violates gag order

    Donald Trump returned briefly to the campaign trail Wednesday and called the judge presiding over his hush money trial “crooked” a day after he was held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order.

  • Judge Juan Merchan’s ‘Manifestly Unfair’ Gag Order on Trump Comes Under Serious Legal Scrutiny

    New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan could fine former President Donald Trump up to $11,000 for violating a gag order that his legal team argues prevents him from defending himself publicly in a case where a Democrat district attorney is seeking to put him in jail.

  • N.Y. Judge Juan Merchan cracks down on Donald Trump with fine, jail threat for gag order violations

    A New York judge clamped down on former President Donald Trump Tuesday, fining him $9,000 and threatening him with jail time for violations of the gag order he imposed in the presumptive Republican nominee’s hush-money trial.

  • Judge Juan Merchan -- fine this!

    Oh please, please, pretty please -- pleeeaase, Judge Merchan, throw Trump in jail. We can't wait for the t-shirts and coffee cups -- and ballots.

    • CNN

    Hear Trump’s statement Judge Merchan corrected in court

    Judge Juan Merchan corrected former President Donald Trump’s false statement about the gag order during his hush money trial. Trump falsely said the gag order prevents him from testifying. CNN’s Elie Honig discusses what the gag order actually does.

  • Did Judge Merchan Make a Critical Error That Can Save Trump?

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Donald Trump had already hit a few snags, but now, Judge Merchan may have made a critical error that could reverse the Trump verdict upon appeal by allowing prosecutors to make certain arguments, according to GWU University law professor Jonathan Turley.

  • Judge Juan Merchan belongs in conflicted jurist Hall of Fame

    “THIS SCAM ‘RUSHED’ TRIAL IS BEING PRESIDED OVER BY POSSIBLY THE MOST CONFLICTED JUDGE IN JUDICIAL HISTORY,” former President Donald Trump declared via Truth Social.

  • Trump about to be hit with 'significant tactical disadvantage' for defying judge: expert

    Former President Donald Trump has boxed himself into a serious disadvantage in his Manhattan criminal trial with his constant violations of Judge Juan Merchan's orders, former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday.This comes after Trump spoke about the first witness at trial, his former ally and National Enquirer boss David Pecker, who described how he orchestrated "catch and kill" schemes to protect Trump during the 2016 election, similar to the purpose of his...

  • 'This is unseen': Ex-prosecutor stunned by Trump's disrespect for judge

    Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig was flabbergasted by the sheer number of times former President Donald Trump appears to have violated Judge Juan Merchan's gag order in his Manhattan criminal trial — and emphasized on a CNN panel on Thursday that in all his years of trying cases, he had never seen anything like it.Trump, who is charged with felony business fraud for trying to conceal alleged hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels to effectively defraud the 2016 presidential...

    • MSNBC

    Read: Full text of Judge Merchan's gag order ruling against Trump

    Judge Juan Merchan finally ruled on Donald Trump's alleged gag order violations in his New York criminal trial. As the second week of testimony started Tuesday, the judge found the defendant in criminal contempt for willfully violating the order nine times. Merchan imposed the maximum legal fine of $1,000 for each violation and warned the presumptive GOP presidential nominee that jail may be next. Read the ruling here: Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top...

    • KIFI

    Takeaways from the Trump hush money trial: Ex-publisher details tabloid tactics

    CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — A wild day of often outlandish legal arguments and tabloid tales could not obscure the stakes for the country. Only Donald Trump could conjure a two-city legal spectacle that gave equal billing to the deepest thoughts of George Washington and a former National Enquirer publisher known for