BREAKING: Judge Juan Merchan Demands Michael Cohen Not Talk About Trump, Hush-Money Case Ahead Of Testimony

On Friday, Judge Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the New York hush-money case against Donald Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), asked prosecutors to tell star witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, not to speak about the case ahead of his testimony next week.

Merchan said he would "direct the people to communicate to Mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements" about the case or his former boss. In response to the direction, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the judge that he cannot control what Cohen does or doesn't do outside the courtroom. "That comes from the bench," Merchan said, per The New York Times.

Cohen has been an outspoken critic of the president for several years but he has been using his time in the spotlight as the prosecution's key witness to hold livestreams on TikTok where he discusses the case and wears shirts that inlude images of Trump behind bars.

The judge's demand comes after House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to the Department of Justice recommending that they charge Cohen for lying to Congress six separate times during testimony to the Oversight Committee in 2019.

The lawmakers argue that Cohen knowingly made false statements during his testimony to the committee on February 27, 2019 and that he lied again before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "Cohen's testimony is now the basis for a politically motivated prosecution of a former president and current declared candidate for that office," Jordan and Comer wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland. "In light of the reliance on the testimony from this repeated liar, we reiterate our concerns and ask what the Justice Department has done to hold Cohen accountable for his false statements to Congress."

"Currently, Manhattan's popularly elected District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is using Cohen as his star witness in an ongoing criminal prosecution of President Donald Trump," the letter continues. "Bragg's case heavily relies on Cohen's testimony and credibility. Even more troubling, Cohen's advisor, Lanny Davis, boasted to Politico that Bragg's prosecution of President Trump all stemmed from Cohen's testimony to Congress in 2019."

Cohen is expected to begin his testimony against Donald Trump on Monday.

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