‘This Trump hating judge won’t let me respond to people who spew hatred’
DONALD Trump has launched a scathing attack on the judge presiding over his porn star hush money trial.
The former US President complained about a court order preventing him from commenting on jurors and potential witnesses related to his criminal cases.
“This conflicted, Trump-hating judge won’t let me respond to people that are on TV lying and spewing hate all day long,” he wrote on his Truth Social network. “He is running roughshod over my lawyers.”
Trump, 77, hit out as the search for an impartial jury entered its second day.
More than 60 people were dismissed from serving on the panel on Monday.
Yesterday dozens more appeared before
Judge Juan
Merchan to determine whether they can be one of the 12. Prospective jurors were asked if they could be fair and impartial, with scores more excused when they said they could not.
A few who made it beyond the first stage quickly realised while answering questions that they may have a tougher time than they thought.
Intimidated
One admitted: “I don’t think I can be as impartial and unbiased as I hoped I could be.” He was excused. Another said she was not political or very opinionated, adding that Trump has “targeted some females” and that some of her friends have strong feelings about him. At one point, Judge Merchan reprimanded Trump for muttering at a potential juror.
“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom,” he said.
The criminal trial is the first of any former president and also the first of Trump’s four indictments to go to trial.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he feared could hurt his 2016 election campaign.
The allegations focus on payoffs to porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier.
The trial will hear evidence from them plus a Trump Tower doorman who claimed the businessman had a child out of wedlock.
Trump denies the alleged sexual encounters occurred.