Former Trump attorney William Brennan described Judge Juan Merchan, who is in charge of the New York hush money case with former President Trump, as a professional and pleasant to work with.
Trump has often aimed at Merchan before and during the hush money trial, expressing anger and claiming he is conducting an unjust proceeding.
But Brennan spoke positively about the judge while on Fox News’s “America Reports” on Monday, in contrast to Trump’s remarks.
Brennan referred to Merchan and Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, as professionals in his remarks on Monday.
“As a lawyer who’s been practicing law in this country for thirty-five years, it's a pleasure to appear in front of him. And frankly, that prosecution team, a number of those people, including Steinglass, was one, our case. He’s a pro. It’s just so much easier when the judge is a pro and the prosecution team are professionals,” he said.
Brennan is a former Trump payroll corporation attorney who also represented Trump during his second impeachment trial. He also said earlier in the interview that Merchan treated him “very well” while arguing before him in a previous payroll tax case.
“I’m not the president’s lawyer in this case. I’ve had the opportunity to represent the president in his second impeachment and in a payroll tax case before this judge. But my personal opinion of Judge Merchan, he treated me very well,” Brennan said on Fox News.
“He was a gentleman, he is smart, he works hard, and I really don’t — it’s above my pay grade to get into political issues. I have no political agenda,” he added.
Trump is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements to his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, for paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and the affair.
Trump has frequently criticized Merchan over the case, stating before the trial started that the judge is “crooked” and criticizing him for implementing a gag order on him.
Merchan had imposed a gag order against Trump before the trial, preventing him from insulting witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the judge’s family. The gag order does not stop Trump from criticizing Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
Merchan decided on Monday that Trump broke the gag order for a 10th time — bringing the total fines Trump must pay for the violations to $10,000 — and cautioned that further violations could lead to imprisonment for the former president.
