Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City reached closing arguments on Tuesday, and as the day’s proceedings got underway, a statement from trial judge Juan Merchan — known in local legal parlance as a justice — refuted earlier complaints from the ex-president-turned-criminal defendant, said an expert.
“Notes from 100 Centre St: Judge Merchan pointedly tells the jury that by law the defense goes first and the state, second, which refutes Trump complaint on social media that it is unfair that the defense goes first and not last,” former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann wrote on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. The past federal figure held a role when still in government on the Russia investigation led by then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and more recently, he’s been commenting consistently on the unfolding criminal proceedings against Trump in New York.
Trump’s original complaint that Weissmann was referencing came the previous evening. “WHY IS THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT ALLOWED TO MAKE THE FINAL ARGUMENT IN THE CASE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN’T THE DEFENSE GO LAST? BIG ADVANTAGE, VERY UNFAIR. WITCH HUNT! DJT,” Trump complained Monday to his followers on Truth Social.
Trump has been compelled to attend the proceedings on account of their specifically criminal nature, and he was there Tuesday. The main bulk of the trial could wrap up entirely very soon thereafter, teeing up a possible jury verdict in the near future as well.
Also on Tuesday, a Biden campaign-associated press conference took place outside the courthouse featuring guests including actor Robert De Niro and former police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, both of whom participated in the defense of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, amid that day’s violent attack in the name of lies of a stolen 2020 election. Dunn, who is now running for Congress, was direct, calling Trump a threat to democracy.
