As a judge is set to rule on whether former President Donald Trump violated a gag order, the 45th president said he needs to be removed from his case.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the business records trial in Manhattan, should be immediately removed.
"We have a rigged judge who is working for the Democrat Party," Trump wrote.
Trump said the Appellate Court should take over his criminal case, which he said should have never been brought. Trump is accused of falsifying records to pay an adult film actress before the 2016 election to remain quiet about an alleged affair.
Merchan last month barred Trump from publicly commenting about witnesses and court staff involved with the trial. The order then was amended this month to include relatives after Trump lashed out at Loren Merchan, the judge's daughter and a Democrat political consultant.
The gag order does not prevent Trump from chiding Merchan or Manhattan Democrat District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Prosecutors from Bragg's office filed a motion last week to hold Trump in contempt for recent Truth Social posts that they contend violated Merchan's gag order. Bragg's team said Trump has violated the gag order at least 10 times.
Merchan held a hearing on whether Trump violated the gag order Tuesday.
Trump also came out swinging against Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw his civil fraud trial and imposed a $475 million penalty after ruling that Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth and real estate assets to deceive banks and insurers into providing better terms.
"Corrupt Judge Engoron…knew I did nothing wrong and still fraudulently fined me…while having no knowledge of valuation, finance or in any way what he was doing," Trump wrote.
Trump also criticized the judge who oversaw the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll, who claims he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.
A federal jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages after agreeing with the former Elle magazine advice columnist that Trump had defamed her in June 2019 by denying he had raped her.
"Judge [Lewis] Kaplan…allowed a woman, who I have never met (celebrity photo line does not count!) and know nothing about, to get a lawless judgment of $90 million," Trump wrote. "New York justice is in shambles and only the Appellate Courts can save it. A Republican doesn't stand a chance. This is not justice."