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State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom Monday over a dramatic spat with the defense’s first main witness, Robert Costello, causing a period of mayhem at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Mr. Costello, a lawyer who once spoke to Trump lawyer-turned-accuser Michael Cohen, seemed to take exception to one of Judge Merchan’s objection rulings, uttering “Jeez,” and then sighing, “Strike it.” “You don’t say ‘jeez.’ And you don’t say “strike it,’ because I’m the only one who strikes it,” Judge Merchan told Mr. Costello, an experienced attorney and prosecutor. He also told him not to give...

An attorney who once represented Michael Cohen testified Monday that Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe had told him the ex-president “knew nothing” about the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels — moments before irking the judge by rolling his eyes and muttering on the stand. Robert “Bob” Costello, the second witness called by Trump’s lawyers at his Manhattan criminal trial, contradicted previous testimony by Cohen that the real estate mogul was aware of the deal to pay Daniels $130,000 to silence her story about having a tryst with him. “Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about...

President Trump was back in a Manhattan court on Monday in Alvin Bragg’s Soviet-style ‘hush money’ lawfare trial. The prosecutors earlier Monday rolled out their ‘star witness’ Michael Cohen, a convicted perjurer, to take the witness stand. Cohen shocked the public when he admitted he stole tens of thousands of dollars from Trump and lied to Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg. After the prosecution rested their case, Trump’s defense team called attorney Robert Costello to the witness stand.

LoBaido just pulled up to Trump courthouse in a UHaul and released dozens of pink balloons in the shape of male genitalia with the faces of Alvin Bragg, Juan Merchan, and Jack Smith.

Michael Cohen apparently wants a reality show but, if his testimony Monday is any indication, reality is about to sink in for not just Cohen but the prosecutors and the court. In stoking interest in his own appearance, the former Trump counsel promised the public that they should be “prepared to be surprised.” Thus far, however, Cohen has offered nothing new and, more importantly, nothing to make the case for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

A company run by the daughter of the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s current New York case works for left-wing legal groups behind efforts to keep President Trump of the 2024 ballot and Chinese Communist Party-funded influence groups. These revelatory business affiliation of Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter Loren Merchan, president and partner of Authentic Campaigns, follow previous reporting on the firm’s work for Democratic politicians including President Joe Biden and Rep. Adam Schiff. Among the newly revealed clients of Judge Merchan’s daughter are the Brennan Center, which has filed lawsuits against the Trump administration and campaign over a dozen...

GAG ON THIS, JUDGE MERCHAN🚨 Judge Merchan's daughter, Loren, didn't just donate 20 bucks...or receive 10k from a candidate...or just work for Kamala Harris. Her firm (of which she is partner) received 2.15 MILLION DOLLARS DIRECTLY FROM BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020. Receipts

Trump’s attorneys filed a motion for mistrial on Thursday after Stormy Daniels took the witness stand. Stormy Daniels took the witness stand again Thursday in Alvin Bragg’s lawfare ‘hush money’ trial against Trump in New York City. ..... Snip..... Trump’s attorneys on Tuesday moved for a mistrial over Stormy Daniels’ testimony, but the crooked judge rejected it. “What’s the jury to do with that? It’s still extraordinarily prejudicial to insert safety — safety concerns into a trial about business records. There’s no way to unring the bell in our view,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche argued. “As a threshold matter, Mr....

Porn star Stormy Daniels is on the stand at former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial in New York today — a pivotal moment in the case. Daniels is describing their alleged sexual encounter, at times in so much detail that Judge Juan Merchan scolded the prosecution, saying the nitty gritty was “unnecessary.” *** “In fairness to the people, I think the witness was a little bit difficult to control the witness," Justice Merchan said*** Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved Tuesday for a mistrial, citing what he called Stormy Daniels' "prejudicial" and salacious testimony about an alleged sexual encounter with...

Inquiring minds would love to know.

Judge Juan Merchan admitted in court Monday that former President Donald Trump could become “the next president” — a tacit acknowledgement not only of recent favorable polls, but that his business records trial is occurring in the middle of a presidential election with direct bearing on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. “The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan warned Trump about violating a gag order placed on him. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” Merchan said Monday he would consider jail time for Trump if he continued to violate a gag order he...

Former President Donald Trump gave a substantially different answer when asked on May 2 whether he would testify in his own defense at trial. “Well I’m not allowed to testify, I’m under a gag order,” he told reporters before leaving court on Thursday afternoon. On several previous occasions, President Trump’s response was an emphatic “yes” when asked the same question. This change came the same day New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan held a second hearing over whether President Trump violated his gag order. “We’re going to be appealing the gag order. I'd love to answer that question, it’s...

The judge presiding over the NY v. Trump trial in Manhattan granted former President Trump permission on Tuesday to attend his son’s high school graduation in Florida next month. "I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem," Judge Juan Merchan told the court Tuesday morning of Barron Trump's graduation date. Trump had pushed for weeks to attend his son's high school graduation on May 17, but a decision on the matter was left in limbo until Tuesday, with Trump speculating earlier this month he would be denied leaving Manhattan for the event. "(Barron’s) a great student and he’s...

The nine posts that the judge in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s falsified business records case ordered Trump to take down on Tuesday have been deleted. Judge Juan Merchan ruled on Tuesday morning ahead of the second week of the trial that Trump needed to pay $9,000, $1,000 for each gag order violation. An additional hearing on more alleged gag order violations will take place on Thursday. The order reads that the defendant, Trump, "is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will...

Former President Trump deleted social media posts that a judge determined violated a gag order in his criminal hush money trial, just before a Tuesday deadline. Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 and held him in contempt nine times early Tuesday over the posts on Truth Social and his campaign website, which included attacks on prospective jurors and witnesses in the case. He added that further violations could result in jail time. “Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will...

Before testimony resumed in the Hush Trump trial in New York City, the judge ruled on the first bunch of prosecutor-driven complaints about how the former president and current 2024 presidential candidate broke his gag order. The judge found that Donald Trump had indeed broken his gag order and then fined him the maximum amount per violation.Prosecutors filed complaints in three different groupings for a total of 14 charges of breaking what is widely believed by constitutional lawyers to be illegal and unconstitutional gagging of a defendant. This first tranche was from Trump's TruthSocial accounts. See the list of his...

Judge Juan Merchan fined former President Donald Trump $9,000 Tuesday and held him in contempt for violating his gag order, warning he may impose jail time for future violations. Merchan ordered Trump to remove the offending posts by 2:15 pm Tuesday and to pay the fine by May 3. He rejected Trump’s defense that he was simply engaging in political speech by responding to attacks by witnesses like Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, writing that the Court is “keenly aware of, and protective of, Defendant’s First Amendment rights, particularly given his candidacy for the office of President of the United...

New York County Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that former President Donald Trump violated a gag order during his trial, holding him in criminal contempt and threatening him with jail time for any further infractions.

Jack Poso 🇺🇸 @JackPosobiec BREAKING: Trump found in contempt of court for 9 gag order violations

New York Judge Juan Merchan will reportedly shut down the latest lawfare trial against President Trump early today so that an alternate juror can visit the dentist. The Boston Herald reported: Donald Trump’s hush money trial will adjourn earlier than expected on Monday to accommodate an alternate juror’s emergency dental appointment in the afternoon. Judge Juan M. Merchan had previously planned to adjourn the trial at 2 p.m. because of Passover, but will now adjourn the case at 12:30 p.m. He plans to end at 2 p.m. on Tuesday for the holiday. This is the same conflicted judge who will...