And unfortunately he's right as Merchan has already demonstrated that with his asinine "you're the former POTUS, you may be POTUS again, I really don't want to put you in jail".Any defendant who hears a judge say that and thinks for a second that theres no way they go to jail is a fool.
It's like playing poker with your hand turned backwards so everybody can see the cards you have.
He lost all leverage when he made that statement.