Trump Accuses Judge Merchan of Election Rigging, Violates Gag Order Amid Cohen’s “No One Is Above the Law” Statement

Expected star witness Michael Cohen has stated that “no one is above the law” as former President Trump accuses the judge presiding over his criminal trial in Manhattan of “rigging” the 2024 election. In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that the judge had taken away his constitutional right to free speech and accused him of rigging the presidential election of 2024 by depriving him of freedom of speech during this highly conflicted judicial process. The ruling follows an order from Judge Juan Merchan last month prohibiting public statements about witnesses, family members or court officials in relation to Trump’s trial for falsifying business records concerning his former personal attorney Michael Cohen paying $130,000 to Stormy Daniels allegedly to keep quiet her claims of a supposed extramarital affair with the then-real estate tycoon. Merchan fined Trump $9,000 after ruling that he had violated this order on nine separate occasions in social media posts and warned him against further willful breaches as “incarceratory punishment” may be necessary if required. In response to these accusations, Trump removed the offending content from his Truth Social account while Merchan urged for fines more commensurate with Trump’s wealth instead of $1,000 per violation due to a lack of discretionary power in this regard. The former president has repeatedly criticised the gag order and called it “totally unconstitutional”, adding that he is not allowed to defend himself against accusations made during these proceedings since other individuals can openly slander him with no restriction imposed by court authorities. Trump’s comments have led some legal experts, including Alan Dershowitz (an advocate of his during the Bill Clinton impeachment) and David Axelrod (former senior advisor to President Barack Obama), to suggest that he should rethink challenging any eventual indictment brought against him for disrespecting courts. Trump has also accused Merchan, who is presiding over this case, as being “conflicted” due to his daughter’s political consultancy work with Democrat politicians and demanded the judge recuse himself from further involvement in these proceedings because of perceived conflicts of interest that have left him feeling bitterly aggrieved.