Judge Merchan Won’t Sanction Trump for Manhattan Construction Site Comment

Published on May 2, 2024

Judge Juan Merchan, overseeing the “hush-money” trial on Thursday, said he would not sanction former President Donald Trump for his comment last week during a visit to a Manhattan construction site. Prosecutors had sought to penalize President Trump when he responded to a question about trial witness David Pecker’s testimony, saying the ex-tabloid publisher is “a nice guy.” “Just to save you time, I’m not terribly concerned about that one,” Judge Merchan told Trump attorney Todd Blanche. The judge, however, did express concern about the three other comments at issue in the hearing. Meanwhile, Mr. Blanche earlier cited recent public comments from President Joe Biden in a bid to defend his client from more gag order-related sanctions....

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