House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) delivered blistering remarks on Tuesday against the New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.
The Louisiana Republican blasted Judge Juan Merchan during a press conference following a Republican conference meeting. Johnson accused Merchan, who has fined Trump 10 times for gag order violations, of undercutting Trump’s ability to defend himself in the middle of a presidential campaign.
“The judge, who is a well-known Democrat, is pursuing an indefensible gag order on President Trump,” Johnson said, according to Just The News. “Think about the magnitude of that. He’s trying to override President Trump’s constitutional right to defend himself against the constant smears of his political opponents, in an election year.”
Merchan issued a gag order against the former president in March that barred Trump from making remarks on potential witnesses, jurors, court staff, and attorneys. The judge later extended the gag to cover members of his own family after Trump pointed out Merchan’s daughter’s history working for elected Democrats.
The judge fined Trump nine $1,000 fines for violations of the gag order last week. On Monday, the judge fined Trump another $1,000 fine and said the former president could face jail time if he continued to flout the court’s gag order.
Merchan told Trump that jailing him could be necessary to “protect the dignity of the justice system.” The judge said he understood “the magnitude of such a decision,” noting: “You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well.”
Johnson ripped the judge over the threat.
“You cannot call yourself a serious judge and threaten a presidential candidate with jail time when he defends his reputation in public in the middle of a campaign. And I think everybody of good conscience understands that,” the speaker said.
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The Republican speaker also accused the Biden justice system of a double standard against Trump in the classified documents case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
“Biden, of course, willfully retained and disclosed classified material but because he is, quote, an elderly man with a poor memory, un-quote, it was decided that DOJ would not be bringing charges,” Johnson said.
“What the American people see, and I mean, this is across the country, this isn’t just red states, it’s blue states as well. They look at this and they see an incredible double standard. It’s just blatantly on display. It’s the weaponization of our justice system. Every single person of good conscience and common sense can see that clearly and it’s disturbing to them.”
