Trump labels Judge Juan Merchan 'complicated and conflicted' after defense rests in hush money trial

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Former president Donald Trump spoke outside the hush money criminal trial courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 21, after a lunch break and after the defense rested their case on Tuesday morning. "I think we have a crazy case that is put on. There is no crime," Trump said while interacting with the reporters. 

"It should be dismissed before you even have a verdict. But we have a judge that's extremely let's say complicated but let's also say conflicted. He's complicated and conflicted," the business mogul said. "Nobody's ever seen anything quite like it."

Donald Trump says putting a Republican presidential nominee on gag order is 'serious situation'

"It's a very serious situation when a Republican nominee for president, the Republican nominee... gets, number one, gagged. And. number two, is before a Democrat-appointed judge. And you're playing with fire like this, it's very sad," Trump said of the next few hours in court where Judge Juan Merchan and the defense and prosecutor teams of lawyers will discuss the charges and instructions to give to the jury next week.

Donald Trump Jr on why his father did not testify in his defense 

After speaking outside the courthouse as the court took a break before the afternoon session, Donald Trump Jr responded to a question about why his father didn't end up testifying in his own defense. 

"How do you justify this insanity? Look at the clowns that they put on there. You don't subject yourself to that nonsense. You're going in a kangaroo court. There's nothing more, nothing less," he said per CBS News. "There'd be absolutely no reason, no justification to do that whatsoever. Everyone sees it for the sham that it is."

Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy on Donald Trump's New York trial

Ex-federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy, while speaking outside the Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, said that Judge Merchan has "put his thumb on the scale" in favor of the DA Alvin Bragg's prosecutors during the trial.

But McCarthy argued that prosecutors have not shown any evidence that Trump committed or intended to commit a campaign finance violation in connection to the NDA payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

"If I'm the defense lawyers i'm arguing very hard that they don't have evidence of Trump either committing or intending to commit a campaign finance violation," McCarthy said. "I don't think they've shown that Trump even had the campaign finance laws on his mind, much less that he willfully violated them."

"And I'd be very strong that 'willfulness' is the highest...mental state element in the criminal law. You have to prove that someone knew he had a legal obligation and intentionally flouted it. And to my mind...I don't think theres any evidence in this case that the campaign finance laws even occurred to Trump," he said per Fox News.

Internet thinks Donald Trump will be the next leader of the US

Netizens also backed Trump after the former president interacted with the reporters after the lunch break. "No matter what they put Donald Trump through, he will definitely defeat Biden in the coming election and become the next president of America," tweeted one user. 

"The disastrous precedent is allowing your father to continue breaking the law without accountability. You’re not far behind Junior," wrote another one. "They’re all corrupt. Vote Trump 2024," added one user, and another commented "Can you honestly say that you think the trumps are in no way corrupt?" 

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