Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy expressed doubt that New York Judge Juan Merchan would dismiss the case against former President Donald Trump, noting the judge’s daughter worked as a “progressive operative.”
Former attorney Michael Cohen, a one-time fixer for Trump who previously pled guilty to charges of lying to Congress and was accused of perjury, testified Monday in the case regarding a $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels. McCarthy said that despite prosecutors not proving that Trump committed fraud, Merchan wouldn’t dismiss the case.
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“What we’re not hearing is a single word of any kind of testimony that Trump had the campaign-finance laws in his mind at all,” McCarthy told “The Story” guest host Trace Gallagher. “I don’t think these transactions are federal campaign expenditures and I’m not alone in that. Bragg is trying to suggest to the jury that they are by having his lawyers, or his prosecutors, tell the jury that Cohen has pled guilty to campaign-finance crimes and having Pecker testify he entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the government regarding campaign finance, but neither one of those things is admissible evidence against Donald Trump.”
Merchan imposed an expanded gag order April 1 after the former President criticized the judge’s daughter in multiple posts on Truth Social, including one linking to a New York Post report on Loren Merchan’s firm helping Democratic causes raise $93 million off Trump’s indictment in the Daniels case. McCarthy said that connection would potentially prevent Merchan from throwing out the case.
“There is no proof of fraud here, much less fraud that included violating the campaign laws, but I keep asking, does this judge want to be the judge who threw out a case against Trump, especially when his daughter’s a progressive operative who does work for the Democrats who define themselves by loathing Trump,” McCarthy. “I just find it hard to believe he’s the guy who would do that.”
