Republican Party official and lawyer Harmeet Dhillon stated Thursday that presiding Judge Juan Merchan “prevented” campaign finance experts from testifying for former President Donald Trump in his New York case.
Dhillon appeared on “The Megyn Kelly Show” to discuss Trump’s ongoing case in New York where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records to pay porn actress Stormy Daniels “hush money.”
As experts have pointed out the case’s flaws and Merchan’s double standards, show host Megyn Kelly asked Dhillon about her thoughts on the loose “guard rails” in terms of the testimony allowed. Kelly also expressed concern that “the guardrail is gonna be missing on the jury instructions.” (RELATED: Alvin Bragg’s Legal Strategy Faces Serious Hurdles Under Questioning By Trump Defense)
“Well, look. This case is a complete travesty of justice. I don’t say that just as a lawyer who’s represented President Trump against stormy Daniels and won $600,000 total in judgments against her. I mean, that is the most biased possible witness — she owes him, currently, over $300,000 after some offsets,” Dhillon stated. “Secondly, it is very clear at the time of those prosecutions where Michael Cohen pled guilty that he was incentivized, as many criminal defendants are, to compose …”
” … to make up allegations that literally had little or nothing to do with the underlying strong allegations that the government had against him with respect to taxi medallions and a bunch of other misconduct on his part. This other stuff was swept in there for purposes of planting the seed for this prosecution. You’re absolutely correct, Megyn. We’ve given the advice to many candidates, and it is so common in corporate America. I have personally drafted agreements like this, ‘your client did nothing wrong, but there’s a fake allegation by a disgruntled former employee or random member of the public.’ You give them $125,000, literally nuisance, chump change.”
“It costs a lot more to try a case. It’s nothing. If there is a mixed motive for a payment under campaign finance law, federal campaign finance law, the candidate wins. That is the case here — that there is a mixed motive for any such payment, and that is [to] buy peace, save money, protect your marriage from frivolous allegations as a famous man about town frequently has to do. So it is actually an open and shut case.”
“What the judge did in this case — Judge [Juan] Merchan — is outrageous. He has prevented President Trump from bringing in campaign finance experts who would have advised the court that there is no campaign finance violation here. This is the most biased —” Dhillon stated.
“No! I didn’t know that,” Kelly responded.
“Absolutely! And my God, we have limited time here, but I could go on [about] the number of reversible errors this judge has committed. That is but one of many,” Dhillon responded.
Since the case was brought forward, Trump has been outspoken on his criticism of both Bragg and Merchan, often calling out the case as a distraction from Democrats. However, Trump began to receive tighter restrictions in early April after Merchan expanded a gag order following the former president’s online criticisms of the judge’s daughter and her connection to reportedly helping Democratic causes raise money off Trump’s indictment.
Trump is currently facing potential financial penalties and jail time as Merchan considered allegations Tuesday that the former president violated the gag order by attacking witnesses such as former attorney Michael Cohen and Daniels.