Closing statements are set to begin on Tuesday in the Manhattan trial concerning the business records of ex-President Donald Trump.
The defense will present their closing argument first, followed by the team of Democrat New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The closing arguments could stretch into a second day.
Trump expressed his disagreement with that ruling on Truth Social, sharing his thoughts on Monday evening:
WHY IS THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT ALLOWED TO MAKE THE FINAL ARGUMENT IN THE CASE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN’T THE DEFENSE GO LAST? BIG ADVANTAGE, VERY UNFAIR. WITCH HUNT! DJT
In a follow-up post, Trump also highlighted other aspects of how the case was handled, which legal analysts have deemed unfair.
Trump pointed out that Judge Juan Merchan dismissed his defense team’s effort to subpoena Mark Pomerantz as a witness. Pomerantz formerly served as a prosecutor in Bragg’s office.
Trump also mentioned that Merchan severely limited the scope of testimony for another witness, former Federal Elections Commissioner Brad Smith, regarding campaign finance law, prompting the defense to opt against using him.
Additionally, Trump highlighted Merchan’s rebuke of another defense witness, Bob Costello, threatening to exclude his testimony from the record when Costello reacted with disbelief to one of Merchan’s rulings.
Trump posted on Truth Social:
Could somebody please ask Judge Merchan, whatever happened to MARK POMERANTZ, the man Alvin Bragg was furious at for the things he did on this contrived and unconstitutional case, and why wasn’t he allowed to testify?
Also, why did Judge Merchan not allow Brad Smith, the leading Election Law Expert in the Country, to testify. He would have ended the case quickly by explaining the Law and stating that President Trump did nothing wrong.
Likewise Bob Costello, and all of his direct and irrefutable knowledge, why was he so horribly treated and completely shut down by the Conflicted Judge, and why were his Emails and Text Messages not allowed to be shown…And then, of course, there’s the BIGGEST EVENT OF THEM ALL, but I’m not allowed to talk about it because I’m under an illegal and unconstitutional GAG ORDER. This is the Biden White House at work. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!
Last week, Harvard legal scholar Alan Dershowitz attended the court, and later wrote:
The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot. He seemed automatically to be ruling against the defendant at every turn.
Gregg Jarrett, a former defense attorney and current Fox News legal analyst, wrote in an op-ed on Fox News stating that the trial bore “no resemblance” to the “cherished constitutional promise” of the right to a fair trial.
Jarrett wrote:
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s absurd case made a mockery of our legal system. Judge Juan Merchan compounded the injustice by dismantling the principles of due process that every defendant deserves. His rulings from the bench consistently favored the prosecution and foreclosed Trump’s lawyers from presenting a bona fide defense that would be permitted in any other courtroom.
…
Working in tandem, Bragg and Merchan proved they have little respect for the rule of law or the rights of the accused. This is not an impartial tribunal. It’s an Orwellian show trial with a preordained outcome. There’s no presumption of innocence, only the expectation of guilt.
The verdict will be in the hands of a 12-person jury in a heavily Democratic area.
President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to issue a statement on the verdict, as per Politico’s report on Friday, citing four anonymous sources.
Biden is said to be planning to deliver the statement from the White House, aiming to demonstrate that it “isn’t political.”
