Trump calls for New York judge to be disbarred after hush money conviction advances

President-elect Trump in a weekend rant turned his ire on the New York judge who ordered sentencing to begin next week in his hush money case, calling him "the most conflicted judge in New York State history."

"I never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge by a corrupt judge who is just doing the work of the Biden/Harris Injustice Department, an attack on their political opponent, ME!," he wrote on Truth Social on Saturday morning, echoing his initial response.

"He created a case where there was none. Keeps a 'gag order' on me so that I can’t talk about how crooked he is," Trump continued. "The Fake News knows all about it, but they refuse to talk. He may be the most conflicted judge in New York State history."

His comments come a day after Judge Juan Merchan announced that sentencing for the president-elect's 34-count felony conviction would begin on Jan. 10 — handing Trump a blow after he demanded his case be dismissed following his election win.

Despite the decision to move forward with the case, Merchan signaled he is inclined to propose no punishment in the case connected to a payment made to an adult film star to cover up an alleged affair during the 2016 election. The New York judge cited the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling in making that choice, especially as Trump prepares to take the oath of office later this month.

Still, the president-elect continued to rail against Merchan, calling him a "totally out of control, Trump hating judge" and again called for him to be disbarred.

"The judge should be disbarred! This is why people, and companies, are FLEEING New York," he wrote Saturday. "A corrupt court system."

The president-elect also leaned into his argument that the case was politically motivated.

"There has never been a President who was so evilly and illegally treated as I. Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors have gone against a political opponent of a President, ME, at levels of injustice never seen before," Trump wrote in a second post.

"Corrupt judges, or judges so blinded by their hatred of me and my political ideology to 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,' are making a mockery of the United States Judicial System, and the World is watching in disgust," he added.

Trump invoked his win against Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith in vowing to appeal the case. Smith dismissed both the 2020 election interference case and classified documents case against the president-elect after he defeated Vice President Harris in the 2024 election, citing a standing DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

"Deranged Jack Smith, the evil and sinister prosecutor appointed by Crooked Joe Biden to 'take me down,' was found to be illegally appointed by a CORRUPT DOJ and FBI, and all of his many charges against me were dropped or dismissed," he wrote Saturday. "His illegal raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, will go down as one of the 'dirtiest tricks' ever perpetrated by one candidate, a dumb as a rock, Sleepy Joe Biden, on another."

Trump added, "With all of this said, I still have confidence that the Appellate Courts will bring JUSTICE TO AMERICA!!!"

He was originally slated to be sentenced in New York in November. Since the election, his lawyers have argued that his status as president-elect compels the case to be tossed entirely.