Former Trump attorney William Brennan said Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the New York hush money case involving former President Trump, is a “pro” and “a pleasure” to work with.
Trump has frequently targeted Merchan before and during the hush money trial, lashing out and saying he is running an unfair proceeding.
But Brennan offered praise for the judge during an appearance on Fox News’s “America Reports” on Monday, offering a stark contrast to Trump’s comments.
Brennan described Merchan and Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, each as a “pro” in his comments Monday.
“As a lawyer who’s been knocking around this country for three and a half decades trying criminal cases, a pleasure to work in front of him. And frankly, that prosecution team, a number of those people, 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 charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to reimbursements made to his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, for making a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged affair. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and the affair.
Trump has frequently taken aim at Merchan over the case, saying before the trial kicked off that the judge is “crooked” and criticizing him for imposing a gag order on him.
Merchan had issued a gag order against Trump ahead of the trial, barring him from throwing insults at witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff or the judge’s family. The gag order does not prevent Trump from criticizing Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
Merchan determined Monday that Trump violated the gag order for a 10th time — bringing the total fines Trump must pay for the violations to $10,000 — and warned that additional violations could result in jail time for the former president.