« I have expressed my concerns about Mr. Cohen, » the judge said during Thursday’s gag order hearing.
Judge Juan Merchan raised some concerns about former Trump attorney Michael Cohen during a recent gag order hearing related to former President Donald Trump’s remarks about Cohen.
Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to the alleged hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied Daniels’ allegations that the two had a sexual encounter.
Two days after fining Trump $9,000 for violating his gag order, Merchan held a second hearing on four additional alleged violations. On Thursday, Manhattan prosecutors argued that Trump violated the gag order by making public comments about the speed at which jurors were selected, about former publisher David Pecker, who testified as the first witness in the case, and about Cohen.
When the defense argued that Cohen should not be covered by the gag order because of his continued criticisms of Trump, Merchan admitted he, too, had some reservations about Cohen and noted that he mentioned so in his Tuesday order.
But Merchan added that, at the end of the day, he was more worried that the other witnesses who were coming to testify would see and hear from Trump.
« I have expressed my concerns about Mr.
