Trump criticizes Merchan, a Democrat, who “just wants to see if they can get a pound of flesh” amid failed cases

EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump harshly criticized Judge Juan Merchan for denying his request to dismiss the charges against him in the New York v. Trump case, telling Fox News Digital Democrats “just want to see if they can get a pound of flesh because every case has failed.”

Merchan refused Trump’s request to throw away his conviction in New York v. Trump, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and set for sentencing on January 10 – just ten days before he is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

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Merchan said there will be no sentencing including jail time, jail time, fines or probation, but rather, likely, a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” meaning no sentence will be imposed.

“Every major legal expert, including Andy McCarthy, Jonathan Turley, Gregg Jarrett and Eli Honig, has stated adamantly that there was no case, there is no case, and this was just a witch hunt,” Trump told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Friday. “The judge is corrupt and I’m still under sentence, I can’t talk about what he least wants me to talk about.”

Trump said Merchan is “a totally embattled judge who is doing a job for the Democratic Party because every other case has failed.”

I did absolutely nothing wrong, Trump continued. “This is a political witch hunt by Biden and the DOJ.”

He added: “They want to see if they can get a pound of flesh because every case has failed, including that of deranged Jack Smith, who returns to The Hague after losing all his cases.”

Trump told Fox News Digital that “no one has ever gone through what I’m going through — this is a disgrace.”

The newly elected president went on to call Merchan “the most conflicted judge in the history of the judiciary.”

“There has never been a judge as conflicted as this one,” Trump said. “There was no case. He created a case out of nothing because he wanted my political opponent to win.”

Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump during the trial and has refused to lift the order.

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Merchan’s order prohibits Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses regarding their potential involvement or about lawyers in the case—other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—or about court staff, prosecution staff or staff family members.

One issue Trump is barred from talking about concerns Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, who is president of Authentic Campaigns—a firm that has done political work for top Democratic clients like President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has launched an investigation into Loren Merchan’s work for a Democratic-linked firm. Loren Merchan received more than $7 million in compensation from her work for VP Harris in 2020.

Meanwhile, cases against Trump in all other jurisdictions have been dismissed or stayed indefinitely.

A federal judge in Florida this summer dismissed a case against Trump brought by now-former special counsel Jack Smith over his alleged improper retention of classified records. The judge, Jude Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida, dismissed the charges, ruling that Smith was illegally appointed as a special prosecutor.

Smith’s case against Trump related to alleged meddling in the 2020 election was also dismissed last month, and he closed his office.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in both of Smith’s cases against him.

And last month, a Georgia appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team from prosecuting Trump in her 2020 election meddling case.

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The court did not completely dismiss Trump’s indictment, but Willis and the assistant prosecutors who work in her office now have “no authority to proceed.”

“There’s no way that corrupt people like that can run a case and then someone else takes it over,” Trump told Fox News Digital last month, reacting to the ruling. “It was a corruption case, so how could someone else take it over?”

“The case must be thrown out because it was corruptly started by an incompetent prosecutor who received millions of dollars through her boyfriend—who received them from her—and then they went on cruises all the time,” Trump said, referring to Willis’ relationship with the former prosecutor in her team, Nathan Wade.

“Therefore, the case is completely dead,” Trump said. “Everyone should get an apology, including those wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years.”

Meanwhile, Trump spokesman and new White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that Merchan’s order “is in direct violation of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and other long-standing case law.”

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“This illegal case should never have been brought and the Constitution requires it to be dismissed immediately,” Cheung told Fox News Digital. “President Trump must be allowed to continue the presidential transition process and carry out the vital duties of the presidency, undisturbed by the remnants of this or any witch hunt.”

Cheung added: “There should be no condemnation, and President Trump will continue to fight these frauds until they are all dead.”