On Tuesday evening, former US President Donald Trump severely criticized Judge Juan Merchan, who appeared before him in a New York court, ignoring the warnings addressed to him in this regard.
After being formally charged in a Manhattan court, where Trump pleaded not guilty, the former US president left for Florida, where he gave a 25-minute speech at his private resort, Mar-a-Lago, to a crowd of his supporters.
Trump brought the charges against Judge Merchan, and also did not spare New York Attorney General Alvin Bragg for his role in the trial, calling him a “criminal.”
He said that the judge hates Trump, as well as his wife and his entire family, and his daughter works with Kamala Harris, the current US Vice President, Joe Biden.
During the trial session, the judge warned Trump to choose words carefully, if he wanted to make a statement about judicial details.
The judge did not issue a gag order to Trump, contenting himself with a warning, but told him that he might order it if he made statements inciting violence, according to the British Daily Mail.
Trump’s trial highlights America’s division
“the real criminal”
- Trump’s harsh criticism extended to Attorney General Alvin Bragg.
- He accused him of being the real culprit, for having “leaked the grand jury information”.
He said he should be prosecuted for this case or at least he should resign.
34 charges carry a sentence of 100 years in prison
The court had said that it charged the former president with a list of 34 criminal charges.
The charges relate to falsifying New York business records in order to conceal harmful information and illegal activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.
It is noteworthy that the charges combined, including the charge of falsifying commercial records in the first degree, carry a maximum penalty of more than 100 years in prison under New York law.
But even if he is found guilty on all counts, Trump is unlikely to be sentenced for that long. Each charge is a low-level felony punishable by a maximum of 4 years in prison per count.
Trump appeared before the court mainly on suspicion of purchasing the silence of pornographic actress, Stormy Daniels, during the 2016 presidential campaign.