Trump targets New York hush money trial judge’s daughter day after gag order

Donald
Trump
on
Wednesday
again
targeted
on
social
media
the
daughter
of
the
judge
in
his
upcoming
criminal

hush
money
trial
—
one
day
after
that
judge
imposed
a

gag
order
limiting
what
Trump
can
say
about
the
case.

Trump,
in
a

Truth

Social

screed,
slammed
New
York
Supreme
Court
Judge
Juan
Merchan
as
a “hater”
and
repeated
his
call
for
the
judge
to

recuse
himself
from
the
case.

Trump
pointed
to
Merchan’s
daughter’s
work
in
progressive
politics,
and
a
social
media
account
that
he
claims
is
hers,
as
evidence
that
it
is “completely
impossible”
for
him
to
get
a “fair
trial.”

Merchan’s
daughter “represents
Crooked
Joe
Biden,
Kamala
Harris,
Adam ‘Shifty’
Schiff,
and
other
Radical
Liberals,
[and]
has
just
posted
a
picture
of
me
behind
bars,
her
obvious
goal,”
Trump
claimed.

The
posts
marked
Trump’s
second
day
in
a
row
highlighting
Merchan’s
daughter’s
role
as
a
president
at
Authentic
Campaigns,
a
Democratic
political
consulting
firm.
The
firm
touts
its
work
for
clients
including
President

Joe
Biden,
whom
Trump
is
campaigning
against,
and
for
other
Democratic
groups
and
politicians.

“Maybe
the
Judge
is
such
a
hater
because
his
daughter
makes
money
by
working
to ‘Get
Trump,’
and
when
he
rules
against
me
over
and
over
again,
he
is
making
her
company,
and
her,
richer
and
richer,”
Trump
wrote. “How
can
this
be
allowed?”

Trump
attorney
Todd
Blanche
declined
to
comment
on
Trump’s
posts
in
light
of
the
gag
order,
which
restricts
him
from
making
certain
statements
about “family
members
of
any
counsel
or
staff
member.”

The
posts
extended
Trump’s
stream
of
attacks
against
Merchan
that
began
after
the
judge
set
an
April
15
trial
date
in
the
hush
money
case.
Trump
is
charged
with
34
counts
of
falsifying
business
records
to
conceal
a
hush
money
payment
to
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels.

Trump’s
latest
attacks
on
Merchan’s
daughter
went
further
than
his
past
comments
by
claiming
she “just
posted”
a
picture
of
him
behind
bars.

Trump
appeared
to
be
referencing
a
social
media

account
on
X,
which
Authentic
had
previously

associated
with
Merchan’s
daughter.

As
recently
as
Wednesday,
that
X
account
featured
as
its
profile
photo
an
edited
headshot
of
Trump
behind
metal
bars.
As
of
Wednesday
afternoon,
that
profile
photo
had
been
changed
to
a
childhood
photo
of
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris.
Harris
had
shared
that
photo
on
social
media
during
a
2019
Democratic
primary
debate,
shortly
after
she
attacked
then-rival
Biden
over
his
record
on
busing.

The
X
account
does
not
currently
belong
to
Merchan’s
daughter,
according
to
a
spokesperson
for
the
Office
of
Court
Administration.

“The
X,
formerly
Twitter,
account
being
attributed
to
Judge
Merchan’s
daughter
no
longer
belongs
to
her
since
she
deleted
it
approximately
a
year
ago,”
the
spokesperson
said
in
a
statement
to
NBC
News.

“It
is
not
linked
to
her
email
address,
nor
has
she
posted
under
that
screen
name
since
she
deleted
the
account,”
the
statement
said. “Rather,
it
represents
the
reconstitution,
last
April,
and
manipulation
of
an
account
she
long
ago
abandoned.”

X
indicates
that
the
account “joined
in
April
2023,”
four
months
after
Authentic

last
referenced
it
in
a
social
media
post.

Trump
was
arraigned
in
the
hush
money
case
last
April.
Around
the
same
time,
multiple
right-wing
news
outlets
published
reports
about
Merchan’s
daughter’s
political
activities.

The
X
account’s
posts
are
protected,
meaning
that
they
can
only
be
viewed
by
approved
followers.

Trump
nevertheless
asserted
Wednesday
that
the
account
is
hers,
while
he
railed
against
his
newest
gag
order.

“So,
let
me
get
this
straight,
the
Judge’s
daughter
is
allowed
to
post
pictures
of
her ‘dream’
of
putting
me
in
jail,
the
Manhattan
D.A.
is
able
to
say
whatever
lies
about
me
he
wants,
the
Judge
can
violate
our
Laws
and
Constitution
at
every
turn,
but
I
am
not
allowed
to
talk
about
the
attacks
against
me,
and
the
Lunatics
trying
to
destroy
my
life,
and
prevent
me
from
winning
the
2024
Presidential
Election,
which
I
am
dominating?”
he
wrote.

The
gag
order
imposed
Tuesday
does
not
completely
limit
Trump
from
talking
about
his
critics.
He
can
still
criticize
the
prosecutor
in
his
case,
Manhattan
District
Attorney
Alvin
Bragg,
and
he
is
not
explicitly
barred
from
speaking
about
Merchan
himself.

Trump
is,
however,
barred
from
making
public
statements
about
likely
witnesses
and
jurors
in
the
case.

And
he
cannot
speak
about
lawyers
in
the
case,
court
staff,
employees
in
the
D.A.’s
office
and
their
family
members
if
those
statements
are
made
with
the “intent
to
materially
interfere”
with
the
proceedings.

Merchan
in
the
order
wrote
that
Trump’s
prior
statements
about
various
figures
involved
in
the
case “were
threatening,
inflammatory
[and]
denigrating.”

“Such
inflammatory
statements
undoubtedly
risk
impeding
the
orderly
administration
of
this
Court,”
wrote
the
judge,
who
also
noted “the
nature
and
impact
of
the
statements
made
against
this
Court
and
a
family
member
thereof.”

“Given
that
the
eve
of
trial
is
upon
us,
it
is
without
question
that
the
imminency
of
the
risk
of
harm
is
now
paramount,”
he
wrote.

Trump
had
referenced
Merchan’s
daughter
on
Truth
Social
around
the
time
of
his

arraignment
in
the
hush
money
case.

Trump’s
attorneys
in
a
court
filing
last
May
referenced
Merchan’s
daughter’s
work
as
they
urged
the
judge
to
recuse
himself
from
the
case.

Merchan,
in
August, declined to
do
so.