Donald Trump had in recent days targeted the daughter of Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing his criminal trial in Manhattan, in blistering social media posts.
The New York judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial later this month expanded a gag order on Monday to bar the former president from attacking the judge’s family members, who in recent days have become the target of Mr. Trump’s abuse.
Justice Juan M. Merchan last week issued an order prohibiting Mr. Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, jurors and court staff, as well as their relatives. That order, however, did not cover Justice Merchan himself or the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, who brought the criminal case against the former president.
And although the ruling issued on Monday still does not apply to the judge or the district attorney, Justice Merchan, granting a request from Mr. Bragg’s office, amended the gag order so that it does now cover their families.
In his ruling, the judge cited recent attacks against his daughter, and rejected Mr. Trump’s argument that his statements were “core political speech.”
“This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose,” Justice Merchan wrote. “It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game’ for defendant’s vitriol.”
Mr. Bragg’s office asked the judge to clarify that their relatives are included, calling such protection “amply warranted.” Noting Mr. Trump’s track record of issuing “threatening and alarming remarks,” Mr. Bragg’s office warned of “the harms that those family members have suffered.”
The personal connection to the gag order complicated Justice Merchan’s decision. Shortly after last week’s initial gag order, Mr. Trump issued a series of blistering attacks on Mr. Merchan and his daughter, Loren, a political consultant who has worked with Democratic candidates.
Specifically, Mr. Trump had accused Ms. Merchan — falsely — of having posted a photo of him behind bars on an account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Court officials said the account cited by Mr. Trump had been taken over last year by someone other than Ms. Merchan.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump intensified his attacks, identifying Justice Merchan’s daughter by name and accusing her of being “a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me.” The former president then renewed his demands that the judge recuse himself from the case, calling Justice Merchan “totally compromised.”
And on Saturday, in an ominous escalation, Mr. Trump posted a news article to Truth Social that displayed two pictures of Ms. Merchan.
Mr. Trump, the first former American president to face criminal prosecution, is scheduled to go on trial on April 15. Mr. Bragg charged him with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the reimbursement of a hush-money payment to hide a sexual encounter with a porn star, Stormy Daniels.
Mr. Trump, once again the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has denied the affair and the charges, which he claims are politically motivated. Mr. Trump and his campaign have also lashed out at the gag order, calling it “unconstitutional.” And his lawyers argued against expanding the gag order to include Justice Merchan and Mr. Bragg’s family, noting that the original order did not cover the judge or the district attorney.
Todd Blanche, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, declined to comment on Monday.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr. Trump’s campaign, called the judge’s amended gag order “unconstitutional,” because, he said, it prevents Mr. Trump from engaging in political speech, “which is entitled to the highest level of protection under the First Amendment.” He added, “The voters of America have a fundamental right to hear the uncensored voice of the leading candidate for the highest office in the land.”
Justice Merchan is just the latest judge to impose a gag order on the former president. A federal appeals court upheld a gag order in Mr. Trump’s federal criminal case in Washington, where he is accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
And in his civil fraud case in New York, Mr. Trump was ordered not to comment on court staff members after he attacked the judge’s principal law clerk. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, imposed $15,000 in fines on the former president when he ran afoul of that order.
If Mr. Trump violates the order, the judge could impose fines, and in extraordinary circumstances, throw him behind bars.
In a court filing on Monday, Mr. Bragg’s office asked the judge to warn Mr. Trump that he will be punished if he ignores the order, using stark language that underscored the state’s concern about the former president’s words.
“Defendant’s dangerous, violent and reprehensible rhetoric fundamentally threatens the integrity of these proceedings and is intended to intimidate witnesses and trial participants alike — including this court,” Mr. Bragg’s office wrote.
In his five-page ruling, Justice Merchan noted that Mr. Trump had a right “to speak to the American voters freely and to defend himself publicly.” But he sought to balance those rights with the impact of Mr. Trump’s statements on the trial.
“It is no longer just a mere possibility or a reasonable likelihood that there exists a threat to the integrity of the judicial proceedings,” the judge wrote. “The threat is very real.”
A New York judge has tightened restrictions on what Donald Trump can say in the lead-up to his criminal trial later this month — specifically by barring the former president from attacking the family members of the district attorney and the judge himself.
The move comes after Trump attacked the adult daughter of New York County Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who had issued a gag order last week barring Trump from attacking court staff and prosecutors. It shows Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s first criminal trial, isn’t shy about clamping down on rhetoric from Trump that he views as incendiary. Trump’s trial, over allegations he broke the law by paying hush money to a porn star to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with her, will start in two weeks.
In his order, Merchan lambasted Trump’s latest rhetoric.
“The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well,” he wrote. “Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”
Reached for comment on Monday evening, Steven Cheung, the communications director for Trump’s campaign, called the order “unconstitutional” and said it violates “the civil rights” of his social media followers, who “have a First Amendment right to receive and listen to his speech.”
Over the weekend, Trump dubbed Merchan’s daughter a “Rabid Trump Hater” for her work at a firm that has Democratic clients. He also accused her of using a picture of him in jail as her profile picture on a social media account, but a court official said another person had taken over the account when that picture was added.
Trump’s attacks on Merchan’s daughter are part of a pattern. In two other court cases over the past six months, judges have imposed gag orders barring Trump from going after witnesses and court employees. But Trump has instead attacked the judges and some of their family members — who were exempted from the other gag orders, which judges can deploy to protect the safety of people involved in the case.
Justice Juan Merchan has banned Mr Trump from criticising his family members or those of Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg.
The Trump campaign has called the gag order unconstitutional.
In the case, Mr Trump denies concealing hush money payments to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 election.
The original order last week barred Mr Trump from attacking court staff, potential jurors and witnesses.
But Mr Bragg, the district attorney, argued on Monday that the restriction should be widened following Mr Trump’s singling out of the judge’s daughter.
On 28 March, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Justice Merchan’s daughter was a “Rabid Trump Hater” who “admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me”.
He has also claimed that Loren Merchan “makes money by working to ‘Get Trump'”, and accused her of sharing social media posts that showed him behind bars.
A New York state court system spokesperson told the Associated Press that Mr Trump’s claim was false and that a social media account that made the posts no longer belonged to Ms Merchan.
Ms Merchan runs a digital marketing agency that works with Democratic candidates among other clients.
Mr Trump’s lawyers strongly opposed the gag order expansion on Monday, saying it would violate his free speech rights.
In his ruling, Justice Merchan wrote that “it is no longer just a mere possibility or a reasonable likelihood that there exists a threat to the integrity of the judicial proceedings. The threat is very real.”
He acknowledged that Mr Trump had the “constitutional right to speak to the American voters freely, and to defend himself publicly”.
Justice Merchan said, however, such attacks “serve no legitimate purpose”.
“It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well are ‘fair game’ for Defendant’s vitriol,” the judge wrote.
Mr Trump denies 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the case. The trial is due to begin on 15 April in Manhattan.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung slammed the judge’s order.
“The voters of America have a fundamental right to hear the uncensored voice of the leading candidate for the highest office in the land,” he said in a statement.
The former president has made attacks on judges, prosecutors and court staff involved in his cases.
Justice Merchan is not the first judge to issue a gag order preventing the ex-president from attacking court staff.
In a civil fraud trial last year that resulted in a $464m fine against Mr Trump, the judge issued a gag order on the former president after he repeatedly attacked the court clerk.
Mr Trump violated the order, leading to two separate fines and an impromptu grilling on the witness stand.
The former president posted a $175m bond in that case on Monday night, leaving enforcement of the penalty in limbo while he appeals against the judgement.
He is also under a gag order in a separate federal criminal case centred on his effort to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.
