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President Donald Trump criticized Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling to keep a gag order against him after a third attempt to remove the judge from his New York hush-money case.
Trump took to Truth Social to address the reasons for his concern while running for president, calling for the Supreme Court to intervene.
“Judge Merchant just ruled that I, the Republican candidate for President, and leading in the Polls, am still under a Gag Order CONCERNING VERY IMPORTANT THINGS WHICH MUST BE BROUGHT TO LIGHT. I AM NOT ALLOWED TO ANSWER REPORTERS QUESTIONS,” he wrote.
“Can you believe this? The New York Courts refuse to act. This is happening right before the voting begins on September 6th,” he continued.
Trump referred to the ongoing rulings against him in New York as “voter interference.”
“Suppression and manipulation of the vote. Voter interference. This is the real Fascist ‘stuff,’ the old Soviet Union! So much to say, and I’m not allowed to say it. Must get U.S. Supreme Court involved. New York is trying to steal the Election!” he concluded.
Merchan’s ruling determined that the recusal was “not necessary.”
“This Court now reiterates for the third time, that which should already be clear — innuendo and mischaracterizations do not a conflict create,” Merchan wrote. “Recusal is therefore not necessary, much less required.”
Merchan also criticized Trump’s attorneys for continuing to dispute the case’s limited gag order, which was affirmed by a mid-level appeals court in New York earlier in August.
“It is therefore difficult to rationalize how Defense Counsel can, in good faith, claim the Order is unconstitutional,” Merchan wrote.
Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to so-called “hush money” paid to Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.
The sentencing is scheduled for next month, just weeks before voters head to the polls to select the next president.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chueng blasted the decision, saying Merchan “should have long ago recused himself from this case.”
He added, “The whole Witch Hunt was rotten from the start and it should now be dismissed entirely as the partisan hoax that it is.”