Judge Merchan Just Caught Donald Trump in an 'Obvious Lie'—Legal Analyst

Judge Juan Merchan caught former President Donald Trump in an "obvious lie" amid his criminal hush money trial, according to legal analyst Glenn Kirschner on Friday.

Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, became the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial in a criminal case last month. Following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, Trump was indicted in March 2023 on 34 charges of allegedly falsifying business records relating to hush money payments that were made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said the case against him is politically motivated.

On Thursday following court proceedings that day, Trump spoke to reporters outside the courtroom and claimed he was barred from testifying because of a gag order Merchan imposed on him.

"I'm not allowed to testify. I'm under a gag order. I guess, right?" Trump told reporters. "I'm not allowed to testify, because this judge, who's totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order."

However, Merchan, who is presiding over the case, clarified in court on Friday that Trump can testify regardless of the gag order, telling the former president, "I want to stress Mr. Trump that you have the absolute right to testify," according to Newsweek's Katherine Fung who was inside the courtroom.

Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. attorney and frequent critic of the former president, posted a video to his YouTube channel on Friday in which he discussed the exchange over testifying between Trump and Merchan, as he stated the judge had caught Trump in an "obvious lie."

"That's Donald Trump telling an obvious lie, being caught in his obvious lie and having the judge expose his obvious lie," he said.

Kirschner also scrutinized Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche as he was seen standing beside Trump and nodded his head as Trump turned to him for advice while making his claim at a news conference.

"His defense attorney Todd Blanche was standing right beside him sort of smiling, sheepishly nodding his approval...What he should have done was take his client aside and say, 'Mr. Trump the gag order does not prevent you from testifying in your own defense at your own trial.' But he didn't do that. Instead he just sort of quietly encouraged the lie kind of nodding along in apparent approval," he added.

Kirschner said that Blanche's role in that moment sent a signal to Trump's supporters and warned it could undermine the public's confidence in the justice system.

"Sending the signal to his supporters that the judge won't he even let me testify in my own trial, eroding and undermining the public's confidence in the criminal justice system. That's not something an attorney, a defense attorney or any attorney should quietly complicit in," he said.

However, while Trump made his comments it's unclear from video footage on Thursday whether Blanche was agreeing that Trump couldn't testify or merely agreeing that Trump was under a gag order.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.

Kirschner is not the first to criticize Blanche's actions as attorney Ron Filipkowski, who is editor-in-chief of the liberal media site MeidasTouch, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday to claim that Blanche may have committed "a serious ethical violation."

"Todd Blanche nodding his head to Trump's statement that he can't testify because of the gag order is a very serious ethical violation in the middle of a criminal trial. Merchan must absolutely grill Blanche and get to the bottom of why he lied to his client about his rights," he wrote.

In March, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump, barring him from making public statements about witnesses as well as lawyers and staff in the case and their families. The order excluded Merchan and Bragg, but it was later expanded to include Merchan and Bragg's families after the former president made blistering attacks toward the judge's daughter, Loren Merchan.

Trump has already been fined $9,000 for breaking the gag order nine separate times. A hearing took place on Thursday to consider four more potential violations, with most of the violations and potential violations targeting Michael Cohen. Merchan warned Trump that he could face jail time if he continues to ignore the gag order.