In the ongoing criminal hush money trial involving former President Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan criticized Trump’s legal team for not objecting more to Stormy Daniels’s testimony. Merchan expressed his confusion with Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles for not objecting at various points during Daniels’s testimony, despite opportunities to do so. He also noted that some of Daniels’s testimony strayed from the central issue of whether Trump falsified business records, delving instead into details of her alleged affair with the former president.
Merchan questioned why Necheles did not object to certain aspects of Daniels’s testimony, such as the mention of a condom. While he acknowledged that he wished the prosecution had not asked certain questions about the affair, Merchan emphasized that there were numerous instances where Necheles could have objected but chose not to. Additionally, Merchan pointed out that by allowing Daniels to provide detailed testimony about the affair, the defense inadvertently helped the prosecution bolster their case that the affair did occur.
Overall, Merchan expressed frustration with Trump’s legal team for their handling of Daniels’s testimony and highlighted their missed opportunities to object. He emphasized the importance of Necheles’s role in the trial and how her actions, or lack thereof, could impact the jury’s perception of the case.
