'Losing all credibility': Judge to Donald Trump's lawyer in hush money trial

NEW DELHI: The judge presiding over Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial admonished Trump's lawyer on Tuesday, suggesting that he was "losing all credibility" as they deliberated whether the former president should face repercussions for violating a gag order preventing him from publicly criticizing witnesses and other individuals involved in the case.
Prosecutors urged Justice Juan Merchan to impose a $10,000 fine on Trump for breaching the order. However, defense attorney Todd Blanche contended that Trump's responses were warranted against political attacks. Merchan deferred a decision on the prosecution's request.
During the hearing, Merchan appeared to grow frustrated when Blanche failed to provide specific instances of the attacks prompting Trump's responses. The judge criticized Blanche for lacking case law or evidence to support his argument.
"You've presented nothing," Merchan rebuked. "I've asked you eight or nine times, show me the exact post he was responding to. You've not even been able to do that once."
"Mr. Blanche, you're losing all credibility. I have to tell you right now, you're losing all credibility with the court," Merchan added.
The judge's gag order prohibits Trump from publicly denigrating witnesses, court officials, and their relatives. Trump has argued that it infringes upon his constitutional right to free speech.
New York prosecutor Christopher Conroy alleged that Trump breached the order through posts on his Truth Social platform.
"Defendant has violated this order repeatedly and hasn't stopped," Conroy asserted. "The court should now hold him in contempt."
Conroy cited an April 10 post where Trump referred to porn star Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen as "sleazebags," both of whom are anticipated to testify in the trial. He also mentioned other posts leading to media coverage prompting a juror to withdraw last week over privacy concerns.
"He knows what he's not allowed to do and he does it anyway," Conroy asserted regarding Trump's conduct. "His disobedience of the order is willful. It's intentional."
The $10,000 fine sought by Conroy would represent a relatively minor penalty for Trump, who has posted $266.6 million in bonds while appealing civil judgments in two other cases.
Conroy clarified that he was not currently seeking to have Trump jailed for up to 30 days, as permitted by New York law.
"The defendant seems to be angling for that," Conroy remarked.
Blanche contended that Trump's posts were responses to political attacks by Cohen and were unrelated to the expected testimony of his former lawyer.
"He's allowed to respond to political attacks," Blanche argued.
Trump faces charges from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made just before the 2016 US election to silence Daniels about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006, which Trump denies.
The trial, which could influence Trump's candidacy for the Nov. 5 election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden, may be the only one of his four criminal prosecutions to reach trial before the election. A guilty verdict would not disqualify Trump from running, but it could damage his candidacy.