Manhattan DA: Trump tirade against judge’s daughter violates gag order

MANHATTAN (CN) — Prosecutors say former President Donald Trump violated a gag order when he went on a Truth Social tirade against the daughter of the judge overseeing his hush-money criminal trial.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan slapped Trump with a gag order on Tuesday barring the former president from making “extrajudicial statements” against potential witnesses and others involved in the case. Notably, the list of people Trump was banned from bashing includes “the family members of any counsel or staff member.”

Trump had previously focused his online attacks on the likes of Michael Cohen, his ex-lawyer who is expected to be a star witness for prosecutors. After the gag order took effect, he shifted to a different target: Judge Merchan’s daughter, the president of a political consulting firm that has worked with Democrats.

Trump used the connection to question Merchan’s impartiality.

“Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately,” Trump said in a Thursday post to Truth Social. “His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me.”

Joshua Steinglass of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office believes the attack, which was just one of a barrage of posts about Merchan’s daughter, violates Trump’s gag order.

“The court should warn defendant that his recent conduct is contumacious and direct him to immediately desist,” Steinglass wrote in a letter dated Thursday. “If defendant continues to disregard such orders, he should face sanctions.”

It’s not immediately clear whether Merchan’s own family is protected under the gag order, or whether the judge is considered a “staff member” of the court. Trump faced a similar gag order in his civil fraud trial last year, under which the judge and his family were not shielded from Trump’s attacks.

But prosecutors claim that, according to the Tuesday order, Trump’s commentary on Merchan’s daughter should be restricted for this criminal case. They add that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s family should be off-limits, too.

“The people believe that the March 26 order is properly read to protect family members of the court,” Steinglass wrote. “As a result, this court should make abundantly clear that the March 26 order protects family members of the court, the district attorney, and all other individuals mentioned in the order.”

Steinglass requested that Merchan “clarify or confirm” the details of the order “to avoid any doubt,” however.

Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche chided prosecutors for their reading of the gag order.

“The express terms of the gag order do not apply in the manner claimed by the people, which they seem to acknowledge by suggesting the need to ‘avoid any doubt,’ Blanche said in a Friday letter. “That the gag order has been publicly interpreted in the way that President Trump reads it further supports the defense position on the order’s meaning.”

Blanche cited two news articles — one from The Associated Press and one from Forbes — both of which interpreted the gag order as excluding Merchan and his family. Blanche also requested a hearing to argue that a broader interpretation of the order would “implicate First Amendment rights that belong to not only President Trump but also the public.”

Merchan didn’t immediately rule on an interpretation of the gag order on Friday, nor did he weigh in on Blanche’s request for a hearing on the matter. But the judge will likely be extra cautious to schedule additional proceedings after he scolded Trump’s latest effort to delay the trial on Monday.

As it stands, Trump is expected to stand trial starting April 15 on charges that he falsified business records to cover up hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges a year ago.

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