Ex-Trump attorney: Judge giving lawyer ‘tongue-lashing’ a ‘bad moment’

by Tara Suter - 04/23/24 2:47 PM ET

Jim Trusty, an ex-attorney for former President Trump, said it was a bad moment for Trump’s current attorney Todd Blanche when Judge Juan Merchan gave him a “tongue-lashing” Tuesday.

“I have to say, if you’re an attorney … no matter what side of the aisle you’re on … the c-word is a terrible word to hear about yourself, and I mean credibility,” Trusty said on CNN in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.

“When you start hearing a judge, you know — and look, this could be a tongue-lashing that’s not followed by a whole lot of damage, but … if the judge starts saying ‘You’ve lost credibility,’ you know, that’s a bad moment for anybody. And you’ve really got to figure out a way, ‘How do I patch this back?’” Trusty continued.

Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s hush money case in New York, told Blance he was “losing all credibility” Tuesday.

Blanche had made arguments that the former president did not violate a gag order on him in the hush money case 10 times by way of 10 posts on his social media account and campaign website.

Blanche said the former president is “being very careful” to not violate the gag order and that “we are trying to comply with it.”

“Mr. Blanche, you’re losing all credibility,” the judge responded. “You’re losing all credibility with the court. Is there any other argument you want to make?”

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Trump in a Truth Social post had accused Merchan of taking away his constitutional right to free speech.

“EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED TO TALK AND LIE ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF,” Trump said. “THIS IS A KANGAROO COURT, AND THE JUDGE SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF!”

Trump’s hush money trial began last Monday, marking the first criminal trial of an American president. He has been has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to reimbursements to his attorney at the time, Michael Cohen, who paid an adult film actor $130,000 prior to the 2016 election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, which he denies.