Donald Trump speaks after voting in the Florida primary election in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee); Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers in New York, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Donald Trump’s hush-money trial judge expanded a gag order on Monday after prosecutors said the former president’s posts about the jurist’s daughter, including her name, photo, and Democratic Party affiliations, were out of control and designed to intimidate the court.
Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, following a motion from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to clarify the scope of the existing gag order, confirmed that the order did not initially “proscribe Defendant’s speech as it relates to the family members of the District Attorney or this Court.” That has now changed.
Merchan explained that while Trump does have a First Amendment right to “defend himself publicly,” going after the family members of trial participants — whether himself or the family of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (D) — “serves 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,” Merchan wrote, before pointing out that the “conventional ‘David vs. Goliath’ roles” in a prosecution like this “are no longer in play as demonstrated by the singular power Defendant’s words have on countless others.”
Calling the threat to the “integrity” of the trial “very real” — and seeing that warnings and hopes of more restrained Truth Social activity “are not enough” — the judge expanded the gag order in a few ways.
The judge ordered Trump to “refrain” from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses,” jurors, court staff, and the DA’s staff in the case. He also ordered the former president not to attack the “family members of any counsel, staff member, the Court or the District Attorney, if those statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with, or cause others to materially interfere” with their work.
Citing the need to “control disruptive influences in the courtroom,” Merchan also granted prosecutors’ request to warn Trump that if he continues with “harassing or disruptive conduct” he will “forfeit any statutory right he may have to access juror names.” Similarly, Trump was warned that violations of the gag order will lead to sanctions.
“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. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself,” Merchan wrote. “Again, all citizens, called upon to participate in these proceedings, whether as a juror, a witness, or in some other capacity, must now concern themselves not only with their own personal safety, but with the safety and the potential for personal attacks upon their loved ones. That reality cannot be overstated.”
The judge also took aim at Trump attorneys’ justifications for the posts about the jurist’s daughter, calling those explanations “farcical” and “not rational.”
“Defendant, in his opposition of April 1, 2024, desperately attempts to justify, and explain away his dangerous rhetoric by ‘turning the tables’ and blaming those he attacks. The arguments counsel makes are at best strained and at worst baseless misrepresentations which are uncorroborated and rely upon innuendo and exaggeration,” Merchan continued. “Put mildly, the assortment of allegations presented as ‘facts’ and cobbled together, result in accusations that are disingenuous and not rational. To argue that the most recent attacks, which included photographs, were ‘necessary and appropriate in the current environment,’ is farcical.”
Merchan ultimately agreed that prosecutors made “a plethora of compelling arguments” to buttress their allegations that Trump’s online “conduct is deliberate and intended to intimidate this Court and impede the orderly administration of this trial.”
The Trump team, for its part, unveiled plans to seek Merchan’s recusal for a second time when defending the former president’s posts.
“President Trump’s social media posts amplified defense arguments regarding the need for recusal that have been, and will continue to be, the subject of motion practice,” the defense said. “The posts also addressed specific political opponents who are clients of Authentic, where Your Honor’s daughter is a partner and executive, and responded to media reports regarding a social media account attributed to Your Honor’s daughter.”
The defense claimed the posts were “properly understood” as a criticism of Merchan’s refusal to recuse himself.
