Judge Merchan Raises Concerns About Michael Cohen

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. Cohen, but it's about other witnesses," the judge remarked.

When Merchan ruled on the first 10 alleged gag order violations, the judge only held Trump in contempt of 9, leaving out the one in which Trump referred to Cohen and Daniels as "sleaze bags." Merchan said that while it's unclear if these comments were a direct response to posts Cohen made earlier in April, "the tenuous correlation is sufficient to give this Court pause as to whether the People have met their burden as to this Exhibit."

The judge's decision to cite Cohen's own social media posts is yet another sign that the case's star witness is becoming an increasing problem for the prosecution. While waiting for his turn on the witness stand, Cohen has continued to criticize Trump over X, nicknaming him "Von ShitzInPantz," and livestreaming nightly on TikTok.

Former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek on Wednesday that Cohen's comments have made him "less and less useful as a source of credible evidence."

The defense brought up Cohen's social media activities during Thursday's hearing, arguing that the witness "is not a man who needs protection from the gag order."

Although Merchan appeared skeptical about Cohen, he seemed to be most concerned about an interview Trump gave on April 22, during which he took issue with the jury being "picked so fast" and claimed that it was made up of "95% Democrats."

Toward the end of the hearing, Merchan redirected Trump attorney Todd Blanche to the comments about the jury. Blanche said it is the defense's belief that the trial is "political," and as part of that belief, Trump takes issue with the location of the trial, Manhattan, where 70 percent of the borough's 1.1 million registered voters are Democrats.

The judge interjected to blankly ask Blanche, "Did he violate the gag order? That's all I want to know." In response, Blanche said Trump "absolutely, positively" did not because he did not reference specific jurors, as the gag order instructs.

Merchan also pushed back on Trump's argument that he should be allowed to respond to questions from reporters since he's the presumptive nominee. After Blanche argued that Trump "can't just say no comment," the judge noted that in some cases, "it wasn't the press that went to [Trump]. He went to them."

Merchan seemed least compelled by the alleged violation pertaining to Trump's remarks about Pecker. The former president had said that he thought the witness had been "very nice," which prosecutors argued was a warning for Pecker to behave. Merchan told Blanche he was "not terribly concerned" with the remark.

The judge did not rule from the bench.