Donald Trump's Lawyers Have a Tough Decision to Make

Donald Trump's legal team faces a "tough decision" over whether to continue representing the former president in his Stormy Daniels criminal case, according to a top legal expert.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records to facilitate the payment of hush money to Daniels, a former pornographic actress, ahead of the 2016 presidential election to cover up an alleged affair. The Republican firebrand has pled not guilty to all charges and denies Daniels' claim that he slept with her.

Earlier this month Trump became the presumptive Republican 2024 presidential candidate following a string of primary victories. However his bid for a second White House term is marred by a series of legal battles including four upcoming criminal cases. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and insists the charges against him are politically motivated.

On his Truth Social website, Trump has repeatedly hit out at Loren Merchan, the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan who is presiding over the Stormy Daniels case.

On X Andrew Weissmann, a former general counsel to the FBI who was part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, argued this puts his legal team in a difficult situation.

Weissmann shared a post from MSNBC executive producer Kyle Griffin who wrote: "Donald Trump is now attacking a private citizen, Judge Juan Merchan's daughter, by name on his social platform."

In response Weissmann added: "Trump's criminal defense counsel now have a tough decision. How do you continue to represent someone who is engaging in this conduct when charged with essentially the same encouragement of violence on 1/6 (and before and after)."

On January 6 2021, or 1/6 as Weissmann writes, Congress was stormed by hundreds of Trump supporters attempting to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Speaking to Newsweek, 2024 Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: "Andrew Weissmann is an idiot and suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome."

Newsweek contacted Trump attorneys Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche by email at 5 a.m. ET on Saturday. This article will be updated if either decides to comment.

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said Judge Merchan is "totally compromised" due to his daughter's activities and called for him to be removed from the case.

Referring to Merchan he said: "His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me. She works for Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, and other Radical Leftists who Campaign on 'Getting Trump,' and fundraise off the 'Biden Indictments' - including this Witch Hunt, which her father 'presides' over, a TOTAL Conflict - and attacking Biden's Political Opponent through the Courts."

Newsweek contacted Loren Merchan for comment via an email sent to political consulting company Authentic Campaigns, of which she is president, at 7:15 a.m. ET on Saturday.

The firm has listed Vice President Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential campaign, Kamala Harris for the People, the Biden-Harris campaign and Schiff's super Political Action Committee (PAC) as clients. Newsweek is unable to verify the other allegations Trump made against Loren.

Trump has also accused Loren Merchan of posting a doctored image showing him behind bars on X. However Al Baker, a spokesman for the New York state court system, clarified that this had nothing to do with her and was done by the "manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned."

On Tuesday Judge Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump preventing him from making public comments about prosecutors, witnesses or jurors, or any of their families, in the Stormy Daniels case.