Dershowitz claims Merchan showed clear bias against Trump in hush money trial

Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz claimed on Tuesday that Judge Juan Merchan showed clear bias against former President Donald Trump in his hush money trial.

Dershowitz was among those that remained in the courtroom when Merchan cleared it of press and the jury on Monday, after defense witness Robert Costello allegedly rolled his eyes, and said "geez" when Merchan sustained an objection from prosecutors. 

The former attorney said he had "never seen" a spectacle like the one he witnessed from Merchan in the Trump trial, despite Dershowitz's decades in law.

"The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot," Dershowitz wrote in an op-ed for the New York Post. "Many experienced lawyers raised their eyebrows when the judge excluded obviously relevant evidence when offered by the defense, while including irrelevant evidence offered by the prosecution.

"But when the defense’s only substantive witness, the experienced attorney Robert Costello, raised his eyebrows at one of New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s rulings, the court went berserk."

Dershowitz wrote that Merchan threatened to strike all of Costello's testimony if he "raised his eyebrows" again. But Dershowitz said striking Costello's testimony would be unconstitutional because it violates the Sixth Amendment, which gives Trump the right to confront witnesses and raise a defense.

The former attorney also blasted media coverage of the trial as "totally distorted" from reality, and accused the media of making up stories. One example were claims that Dershowitz had a "spat with my nemesis" instead of a friendly conversation with a former student. 

"This minor incident is simply the tip of a very large and deep iceberg of false reporting about the trial that can only occur because the proceedings are not being televised," Dershowitz wrote. "There is absolutely no good reason why a trial of this importance, or any trial, should not be televised live and in real time. Allowing the public to see their courts in action is the best guarantee of fairness."

Dershowitz's comments come despite his long affiliation with the Democratic Party. But Dershowtiz has long slammed Trump's hush money trial, where prosecutors have accused Trump of doctoring financial documents to hide an alleged hush money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The defense and prosecutors have both rested in the case as of Tuesday, and will be delivering closing arguments to a Manhattan jury next week. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.