Former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters as he exited the courtroom Friday, and said Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the hush money trial, “wants this to go as fast as possible."
“The trial starts on Monday, which is long before a lot of people thought. The judge wants this to go as fast as possible. That’s for his reasons, not for my reasons,” Trump said.
The former president also called the trial "a giant witch hunt" and railed against people involved in the separate New York civil fraud case — including Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James — to make the case that Democrats are targeting him.