As if as a final hurrah, Justice Juan Merchan scolds defendant Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche Tuesday — the closing statements day in the Manhattan criminal court in the former president’s hush money trials.
It all started as Blanche began to wrap up his nearly two hour-long closing argument. He tried to remind the jury that their decision shouldn’t be influenced by their political or personal views of Trump and stressed that this is not a referendum on his candidacy. This was an interesting point to make since Trump and his campaign maintain that this entire trial is in fact a politically motivated sham that directly impacts the election.
