Former President Donald Trump used a Wednesday break in his New York trial to gripe about the court system that is trying him on charges he criminally concealed hush money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump issued a fundraising call to his supporters that said he was stuck in a “kangaroo court” and that Democrats are celebrating his demise.
“Before I get dragged back into court, I’m calling on every single Trump-loving Patriot to chip in and say, I stand with President Trump,” the pitch said, using all-caps for emphasis in parts before jury selection resumed Thursday.
Writing on Truth Social, Mr. Trump complained about the cap on the peremptory challenges each side is given to dismiss potential jurors without providing a reason.
“I thought STRIKES were supposed to be ‘unlimited’ when we were picking our jury? I was then told we only had 10, not nearly enough when we were purposely given the 2nd Worst Venue in the Country,” the former president said.
It is unclear why Mr. Trump would think his challenges were unlimited. Peremptory challenges are often capped in criminal cases and his counsel would have known about the set limit before jury selection started.
The former president also used his social media channel to lobby the Supreme Court for presidential immunity against the litany of criminal charges he faces while campaigning this year. The justices will take up the matter on April 25.
Mr. Trump wrote that without presidential immunity, President Biden would “surely be Indicted and Tried for many of his Dishonest, illegal, or Incompetent Actions.”
In New York, Mr. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Trump funneled payments to his lawyer Michael Cohen to conceal hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and two others to avoid bad press before the election nearly eight years ago.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, pleaded not guilty and says he is not being treated fairly in the liberal city.
He continued to single out state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial and swore the first seven jurors on Tuesday.
Mr. Trump says Judge Merchan is sympathetic to his political rivals.
“We are going to continue our fight against this judge. I think he’s totally conflicted,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s rushing this trial, doing everything he can for the Democrats. This is a Biden-inspired witch hunt.”
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. The court will not convene on Wednesday, giving Mr. Trump some breathing room to campaign against Mr. Biden before the November election.
He posed for photographs with cops, bystanders and others while visiting a New York City bodega late Tuesday.
A clerk at the bodega faced criminal charges in 2022 after stabbing a robber to death.
The charges were dropped, but Mr. Trump said it was an instance of liberal prosecutors failing to preserve law and order.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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