Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan took the president’s lead attorney, Todd Blanche, to task over 10 posts prosecutors say violate the gag order.
The lawyer argued that Trump didn’t violate the gag order because he was merely resharing stories he’d found on social media.
Judge Merchan said: ‘How do I know that’s his position? Because you’re telling me?
Blanche replied that was the argument he was making.
Judge Merchan said: ‘Your client’s position at the time he reposted to those accounts he didn’t believe he was violating the gag order? I’d like to hear that’.
Blanche struggled to speak and replied no.
Judge Merchan said that while prosecutors had presented 10 exhibits and made their arguments ‘you’ve presented nothing.Trump’
In a discussion about the 10 posts — the one about supposed liberal activists lying to the judge to get on the jury — Judge Merchan said Trump ‘manipulated what was said and put it into quotes.’
Judge Merchan added: ‘This is not a repost at all. This is something that was said on TV and your client had to type it out, quotation marks, the shift key.’
‘The argument that it’s a repost and not a violation does not apply to exhibit 10’.
Blanche then said the post was ‘ambiguous’ as to whether it breached the order and that it was ‘not trying to threaten jurors’.
When Blanche maintained that Trump was ‘being very careful to comply’ with the court’s order
Judge Merchan snapped back, ‘Mr. Blanche, you’re losing all credibility with the court.’
The hearing ended with Merchan saying he would make his ruling later.
