Donald Trump Fumes as He Discovers New Witness

Former President Donald Trump complained Tuesday as he learned about a new witness expected to take the stand in his ongoing Manhattan criminal trial.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is overseeing the trial, which began on April 15 and is now in its fourth week. Trump was indicted by District Attorney Alvin Bragg on alleged hush-money payments he arranged for Michael Cohen, his lawyer at the time, to make to former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

"I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare. No Judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"He is CROOKED & HIGHLY CONFLICTED, even taking away my First Amendment Rights. Now he's threatening me with JAIL, & THEY HAVE NO CASE - This according to virtually all Legal Scholars & Experts! Why isn't the Fake News Media reporting his Conflict?" he added.

The former president seems to have deleted the message from his Truth Social account shortly after posting it. Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson for comment via email.

In April 2023, Bragg said Trump "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information—including a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels—from the public during the 2016 presidential campaign." Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments made to Daniels.

The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee has continued to deny any wrongdoing and has been placed under a gag order for criticizing Merchan. Trump was fined $9,000 last week for nine gag-order violations, and Merchan announced a 10th violation Monday morning.

Merchan also warned Trump of possible jail time for continued violations of the gag order, saying: "I do not want to impose a jail sanction and have done everything I can to avoid doing so. But I will if necessary."

Trump has repeatedly criticized the gag order against him, and responding to possible jail time, he said: "Frankly ... our Constitution is much more important than jail. It's not even close. I'll do that sacrifice any day."

The identity of the witness Trump mentioned in his since-deleted Truth Social post remains unclear.

On May 6, the trial featured testimony from former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney and accounts payable supervisor Deborah Tarasoff. Newsweek's Katherine Fung, who has been inside the courtroom, reported that McConney's testimony detailed how he and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg raised the money to reimburse Cohen.