A day after the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal hush-money trial issued a limited gag order barring the former president from lashing out publicly at prosecutors, court staff, and any of their family members, Trump on Wednesday bitterly attacked both the judge and his 34-year-old daughter.
“Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights,” Trump posted this morning on Truth Social, the Twitter clone he started after being kicked off the microblogging site for inciting violence.
“This Judge, by issuing a vicious ‘Gag Order,’ is wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement, including the fact that Crooked Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and their Hacks and Thugs are tracking and following me all across the Country, obsessively trying to persecute me, while everyone knows I have done nothing wrong!”
Trump immediately followed up with “Page 2” of his incendiary, misleading screed, writing, “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? 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. How can this be allowed?”
Merchan’s daughter is the president of a political consulting firm that has worked for Democratic candidates. Although her account is now set to private, her X (formerly Twitter) profile at one point displayed a mock image of Trump behind bars. Merchan and others have been inundated with death threats since Trump was charged.
Trump, who is facing a total of four criminal trials, has tried to postpone them all until after the November 2024 election. In the case being overseen by Merchan, Trump faces a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records over a $130,000 hush-money payment he’s accused of directing attorney/fixer Michael Cohen to make to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to hide their alleged sexual encounter. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and continues to claim he never had sex with Daniels.
Trump’s lawyers have argued their client, as the “presumptive Republican nominee and Ieading candidate in the 2024 election… must have unfettered access to the voting public to respond to attacks from political opponents and to criticize these public figures.”
However, Merchan wrote in his decision on Tuesday, Trump’s “extrajudicial statements went far beyond defending himself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public figures.’” The onetime commander-in-chief’s claims were “threatening, inflammatory, [and] denigrating,” and targeted everyone from local and federal officials to court staff and “private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty.”
“The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof,” Merchan wrote.
Merchan’s gag order is purposely tailored to protect Trump’s First Amendment rights, and does not specifically forbid the ex-POTUS from saying whatever he pleases about Manhatann District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Merchan, or their families.
Merchan, up to this point, has given Trump an astonishing amount of wiggle room, saying at Trump’s April 2023 arraignment, “I’m bending over backwards and straining to make sure that he is given every opportunity possible to advance his candidacy and to be able to speak in furtherance of his candidacy.”
On Tuesday morning, before Merchan handed down the gag order, Trump took aim at the judge as biased against him while simultaneously complimenting his appearance.
“Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Trump posted online. “In other words, he hates me! His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem) Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden. He was recently the judge on an unrelated trial of a long term employee, elderly and not in good health. This judge treated him viciously, telling him either you cooperate or I’m putting you in jail for 15 years. He pled, and went to jail for very minor offenses, highly unusual, served 4 months in Rikers, and now they are after him again, this time for allegedly lying (doesn’t look like a lie to me!), and they threatened him again with 15 years if he doesn’t say something bad about ‘TRUMP.’ He is devastated and scared! These COUNTRY DESTROYING SCOUNDRELS & THUGS HAVE NO CASE AGAINST ME. WITCH HUNT!”
He posted again a short time later, claiming, without a shred of evidence, that Bragg brought charges against him “in close coordination with Crooked Joe Biden’s people/campaign.” Trump called the case “ridiculous,” calling star witness and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen a “convicted LIAR and FELON,” and prosecutor Mark Pomerantz a “dirtbag lawyer.”
“JUDGE MERCHAN SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF, HE CANNOT GIVE ME A FAIR TRIAL,” Trump’s post continued. “Likewise, for the sake of fairness, this ‘Political Opponent’ trial should take place in Staten Island, with a new and unbiased judge. The trial should not be allowed to start in the middle of my campaign for President. They could have filed more than three years ago - THEY WAITED! THIS IS ANOTHER WITCH HUNT FOR PURPOSES OF ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!”
If Trump is found to be in violation of the gag order, he could be held in contempt of court and either fined or jailed. A court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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