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Tuesday, May. 07, 2024

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Judge Juan Merchan just showed how to deal with Trump's disinformation

By Norman Eisen, Barbara McQuade and Samara Angel

Overlooked in the furor over former Donald Trump aide Hope Hicks' testimony in the former president's New York criminal trial Friday was a quieter but no less important event. It came in Judge Juan Merchan's soft-spoken but forceful reprimand of Trump for spreading a false claim. Merchan politely but firmly deflated Trump's latest misleading spin and, in so doing, offered the dozens of journalists in the courtroom some pointers on how to deal with Trump's incessant lies.

Trump has refrained from attacking witnesses and the jury since last week, when he was first found in contempt of court for nine violations of the gag order in the case. (On Monday, Merchan found Trump guilty of a 10th violation that took place before he was initially found in contempt.) But the former president is not holding back on attacking the truth. After proceedings ended on Thursday, Trump was asked whether he would appear as a witness in his own defense. "I'm not allowed to testify," he stated. "I'm under a gag order — I guess, right?"

This is a preview of Norman Eisen, Barbara McQuade and Samara Angel's latest article. Read the full column here.

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