Comment on Judge bench-slaps Trump lawyer 5 times on day 1 of hush money trial

Former U.S. President Donald Trump (C) appears with his legal team Todd Blanche, and Emil Bove (R) ahead of the start of jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024 in New York City. Former President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial.Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty ImagesTrump's lawyer was repeatedly bench-slapped on the first day of his trial.Lead lawyer Todd Blanche, suffered a quintet of rebukes for his lawyering.New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan called out the lawyer at least five times Monday.It took New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan four hours to dispense with pretrial matters before starting jury selection in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial on Monday.In that time — and as an international press corps watched and took notes — Trump's lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, suffered a quintet of rebukes for his lawyering.Merchan didn't hit Blanche as hard as a federal judge in Manhattan has hit Trump lawyer Alina Habba for her lawyering.