'Tighten the gag order': Legal experts outraged over Trump’s latest attack on judge’s daughter

31 March 2024

New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan — who's presiding over Donald Trump's hush money case — imposed a gag order on the ex-president earlier this week, which included banning him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, as well as court staff and their family members.

However, Trump has already found ways around the restrictions, attacking the judge himself and his daughter — now three times — on social media.

On Saturday night, the MAGA hopeful wrote on Truth Social:

This is a disgrace to our Legal System. Judge Merchan should be immediately sanctioned and recused, and this fake 'case,' only kept alive by the Highly Conflicted Judge, should be completely dismissed right away - THERE IS NO CASE, THERE IS NO CRIME," Trump said Saturday. "Andy McCarthy, Jonathan Turley, and all Legal Experts and Scholars universally agree that this is a case that should have never been brought. IT IS A POLITICAL, ELECTION-INTERFERING WITCH HUNT, JUST LIKE ALL OF THE OTHER HOAXES, HEADED UP AND COORDINATED BY THE DOJ, AGAINST THE POLITICAL OPPONENT OF CROOKED JOE BIDEN IN ORDER TO HELP GET THE WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES RE-ELECTED!

Trump also added a link to a New York Post article, entitled, Dem clients of daughter of NY judge in Trump hush money trial raised $93M off the case.

The Guardian's Hugo Lowell responded to the former president's post via X (formerly Twitter), saying, "Trump did not post a photo of Judge Merchan’s daughter — he posted a link to a NY Post story and the link preview included a photo of the daughter. But it’s just not credible at this point to say that Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing."

However, MSNBC's Katie Phang quickly replied to Lowell, tweeting, "He knows exactly what he's doing."

Legal analyst and University of Alabama law professor Joyce Vance shared a screenshot of Trump's post via X, writing, "You can't have a legal system with integrity & the ability to counteract you if you're a wannabe dictator. That's why Trump is trying to delegitimize or institutions."

Vance's fellow legal analyst and former FBI counsel Andrew Weissmann also reacted to Trump's post by suggesting that the court, "1. tighten the bail release conditions ASAP. 2. Warn that jail will result from threatening ANYONE while out on bail, or posting about witnesses, jurors, court or prosecution families. 3. Enforce- that is what it means to treat likes alike. The foundation of the rule of law."

Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks added, "Tighten the gag order to cover judge's daughter and enforce that."

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