As former President Donald Trump’s New York business records trial opened on Monday, Trump attorney Jesse Binnall and former federal prosecutor Doug Burns told Newsmax that the absence of politics in the courtroom is essential for the rule of law.
“Having an impartial judge is key to the rule of law, and it’s more important than just even having an impartial judge,” Binnall said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “American Agenda.”
“You have to have a judge who is seen to be impartial. You cannot even have the appearance of partiality from a judge because what suffers then is exactly what we’re seeing now: What suffers is the rule of law. In order to have the rule of law in any country, the people of that country have to know that what is being done in a courtroom is law, not politics,” he continued.
“Here, it’s very, very clear that Judge [Juan] Merchan is on a political campaign to try to destroy Donald Trump because he doesn’t trust the American people. He knows the American people badly want Donald Trump back in office as president — he’s the front-runner right now for the election — and Judge Merchan is not content to just make his voice known at the ballot box.
“He wants to use his judicial position to try to impact this election, and that’s one of the biggest threats to the rule of law right now that we’ve seen in our country’s history.”
On Monday, Merchan denied Trump’s second bid for him to recuse himself from the criminal case stemming from charges of falsifying business records. The former president claimed Merchan had a conflict of interest due to his daughter’s work for a political consulting firm with Democrat clients.
At the start of the trial, prosecutors asked Merchan to fine Trump and remind him he could be imprisoned for violating a gag order that bars him from attacking potential witnesses.
Fast-forwarding to the end of the process, Burns said that in terms of outcomes, “you have to break it down into legal and factual.”
“Factually, they’re probably going to punch him out and convict him,” he said. “But, legally, there’s all kinds of issues on appeal: statute of limitations, bumping it up to a felony improperly.”
Burns added that the prosecution “will defend it, though, on the grounds that this had nothing to do with election. It was embarrassment, family, et cetera. That’s the way they have to defend it factually.”
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