Trump accuses judge of making hush money trial ‘as salacious as possible’

Former President Trump on Friday claimed the judge handling his hush money case was trying to make the trial “as salacious as possible,” even as Trump’s own attorneys sought to undermine a witness by bringing up celebrity scandals.

“This Corrupt and HIGHLY Conflicted New York Judge, Juan Merchan, is doing everything in his power to make this trial as salacious as possible, even though these things have NOTHING to do with this FAKE case,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Upon arriving at the courthouse, Trump again took aim at Judge Juan Merchan in his remarks to reporters before proceedings began, calling him “highly conflicted.”

“He’s trying to make it as salacious as possible by allowing testimony that has nothing to do with the case,” Trump said. “He wants to make it a salacious case to try and hurt Trump. But it’s having the opposite effect.”

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The case is inherently salacious, as it centers on a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign, intended to keep her from going public with her story of an alleged affair with Trump.

Trump has denied the affair, and his attorneys have noted hush-money payments are not illegal in themselves and that the former president did nothing wrong.

Trump’s criticism Friday may have been referring to Merchan allowing prosecutors to raise the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also allegedly had an affair with Trump roughly a decade before he was elected president. 

The trial took a detour Thursday into a graveyard of celebrity scandals, as Trump’s attorney attempted to diminish the credibility of Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented two women who were paid hush money during Trump’s 2016 campaign. 

Trump attorney Emil Bove suggested that Davidson regularly looked to shop around salacious stories. He brought up how Davidson was previously investigated for extortion for his dealings with celebrities.