New York Judge Juan Merchan is attempting to keep firm control of the process of filing motions ahead of trial in the New York City criminal case accusing former President Donald Trump of falsifying business records in connection to hush money from before the 2016 elections.
And in a new court document, Merchan accused Trump/his team of effectively disregarding his earlier directives for the motions process.
Merchan had earlier demanded that forthcoming motions be accompanied by a pre-motion letter outlining the basics of the push, which he has characterized as a critical step towards the more orderly management of the court’s tasks at hand. Trump and his team started complaining about these controls, alleging a violation of the ex-president’s Constitutional rights via the supposedly overreaching restrictions with the implication the judge could start unduly blocking certain motions.
The Trump team also tried bucking Merchan’s directives via the manner in which they filed their motions and other court documents, the judge said.
“The Court’s Order of March 8 was issued at approximately 4:10pm,” the judge said, referring to his directives for pre-motion letters. “At 7:57pm that evening, Defendant filed what he characterized as a “pre-motion letter” seeking discovery sanctions. However, the “pre-motion letter” was accompanied by a notice of motion, a motion consisting of 51 pages and 214 pages in exhibits. In the cover e-mail, Defendant stated that they would “communicate with the People regarding redactions prior to filing.” In essence, Defendant disregarded this Court’s Order regarding the filing of motions.”
In other words, the judge seemed to gather that Trump’s legal team was proceeding with their motions in much the same manner as they might have previously, despite his demands for pre-motion letters first. And he took compliance seriously.
That back-and-forth from earlier in March spurred an email reminding involved parties of the new controls, which Trump’s team wanted vacated, meaning procedurally set aside. Merchan denied this on Tuesday. He added in the order that Trump’s lawyers should “demonstrate the proper respect and decorum that is owed to the courts,” reminding them of judicial power to pursue contempt consequences.
