(Manhattan, NYC) The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s hush money case has taken the unusual step of instructing prospective jurors to disregard anything he says while taking the stand in his own defense.
“The court feels like anything the former president has to say, even under oath while on the stand, will be meaningless to the case and therefore detrimental to the outcome the court has already determined,” Judge Juan Merchan wrote in his order.
“Mr. Trump has a bad habit of trying to defend himself when accused of various criminal activity, and the court has repeatedly instructed him that it has no tolerance for that kind of reckless conduct,” Merchan’s order continued. “None of this is the fault of the court, but rather, it is only the fault of Mr. Trump.
“Therefore, it is this court’s opinion that jurors could become distracted by Mr. Trump’s claims of innocence. As such, the court orders the jurors to ignore what he says and only consider what the prosecution puts forth into evidence,” Merchan wrote.
Asked for clarification, a spokesman for the Manhattan court said simply, “The order speaks for itself.”
