Report: Trump Attorneys Sue Judge In Hush Money Trial
Jury selection is underway for the New York trial of former President Donald Trump over allegations about hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election to a woman who claimed she had an affair with him years earlier.
Judge Juan Merchan released his questionnaire of 42 questions for potential jurors ahead of Trump’s upcoming hush money trial.
Some of the questions:
-“Do you have any feelings or opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?”
– “What do you do for a living?”
-… pic.twitter.com/D0Dj8PzBiB— Elizabeth Weibel (@elfaddis) April 9, 2024
As with other criminal and civil complaints filed against him over the past year, Trump and his allies have asserted that this case is a transparently partisan effort to derail his bid to win a second term in the White House.
With less than a week until the trial is set to begin, reports indicate Trump’s legal team is pursuing a strategy to delay the case with a planned lawsuit against Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case.
Not only has the defense filed a motion criticizing the gag order put in place to restrict Trump’s ability to comment on the trial, but attorneys have also reportedly called on Merchan to step down from the trial due to his daughter’s connection with Authentic Campaigns, a Democratic-aligned political campaign firm.
While Merchan’s gag order prohibits Trump from lodging verbal attacks against certain targets — including witnesses, prosecutors and court staff — as the trial takes shape, it does not hinder the former president’s ability to criticize New York Attorney General Alvin Bragg or the judge himself.
In a social media post on Saturday, Trump compared himself to the late political prisoner and South African leader Nelson Mandela over the restrictions placed on his ability to speak openly about the charges against him.
“If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the ‘clink’ for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela — It will be my GREAT HONOR,” he wrote. “We have to Save our Country from these Political Operatives masquerading as prosecutors and Judges, and I am willing to sacrifice my Freedom for that worthy cause.”
Trump’s attorneys have also petitioned to move the trial to another jurisdiction, citing Manhattan’s demographics and other factors.
“Jury selection cannot proceed in a fair manner,” determined defense lawyer Emil Bove.
An appeals court ruling this week, however, rejected the request.