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I am not an attorney and have no background in legal defense work, so my legal advice should almost certainly be taken with a grain of salt. That said, I’d generally advise those who’ve been indicted not to publicly go after the judge before the arraignment even happens.
This is advice Donald Trump apparently has no use for. NBC News reported:
Trump on Friday lashed out at the New York judge who is expected to preside over the former president’s arraignment next week. “The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case, a ‘Case’ that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
As part of online rant, the former president misspelled Judge Juan Merchan’s name, before accusing the jurist of having “railroaded” and “strongarmed” former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. The Republican also accused the judge of having “viciously” treated his family business.
Trump arraignment: Follow our live blog beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday for the latest updates and analysis on Trump’s arrest in New York.
Not only was Trump’s tirade completely at odds with Merchan’s reputation in legal circles, his rhetoric also didn’t persuade the former president’s own lawyer. Attorney Joe Tacopina sat down yesterday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and seemed to wave off his client’s criticism.
“Do I think the judge is biased? Of course not,” the lawyer said.
Asked why the former president was pushing the opposite line, Tacopina responded, “You’re interviewing me, George, right? ... I’m [Trump’s] attorney, but I’m myself. I’m not his PR person. I’m not a spokesperson. He’s entitled to his own opinion.”
Hours later, Trump returned to his social media platform, where he once again took aim at Merchan, calling the jurist a “Trump Hating Judge,” who was “hand selected by the Soros backed D.A.” The former president said the judge “must be changed!” (As part of the same harangue, the Republican also said the venue also “must be changed” because he believes it’s “IMPOSSIBLE” for him to get a “Fair Trial” in Manhattan. I’ll never understand his approach to capitalization.)
There’s no great mystery behind the rhetoric: Trump routinely takes preemptive steps to rationalize defeats. He’s going after Merchan now so that if his trial doesn’t go well, he’ll be able to say, “I said all along the judge wouldn’t be fair.” It’s the same reasoning that led him to denounce the 2020 election months before his defeat.
But that didn’t make it any less jarring to see the former president and his defense attorney contradict each other about the judge on the same afternoon.