Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at a New York judge who imposed a gag order on him ahead of his April 15 hush-money criminal trial, suggesting without evidence that the veteran jurist worked as a Democratic political consultant to his daughter. The interests bowed. The former president took particular issue with what he said were specious photos she took of him in prison on social media.
Presumptive Republican nominee Trump said in a social media post that the gag order issued on Tuesday was “illegal, un-American and unconstitutional.” He said Judge Juan M. Merchan “wrongly attempted to deprive me of my First Amendment right to speak out against the weaponization of law enforcement by my Democratic rivals” and urged him to withdraw from the case.
The gag order sought by prosecutors bars Trump from making or directing others to make public statements on his behalf about jurors and potential witnesses in the hush-money trial, such as his lawyer-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen and porn star Stormi Daniels. It also prohibits any comments intended to disrupt or harass court staff, the prosecution team or their families.
It does not prohibit comments about Mocha or his family, nor criticism of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting Trump.
Murcha’s daughter, who campaigned for President Joe Biden and other Democrats and “made money by ‘catching Trump,'” recently posted a fake photo on social media depicting what she saw An “obvious target” for his imprisonment. explain. He argued that the circumstances made it “completely impossible for me to receive a fair trial.”
Trump has not linked to the alleged photo, but an account that appears to belong to Loren Merchan (formerly Twitter) displayed a photo illustration of an imprisoned Trump as its profile picture on Wednesday morning. Later it was changed. Loren Merchan’s consulting firm has been linked to the same account in previous social media posts.
Trump wrote on “Truth Social”: “So, let me be clear, the judge’s daughter can post photos of her ‘dream’ of putting me in jail… but I cannot talk about the attacks against me, and Crazy people trying to destroy my life and prevent me from winning the 2024 presidential election that I am dominating?
Trump continued: “Maybe the judge is so hateful because his daughter is making money by ‘catching Trump,’ that when he rules against me time and time again, he is costing her company and her Getting richer and richer.” “How can this be allowed?”
Messages seeking comment have been left with Murchin, his daughter and a spokesperson for the New York state court system. Bragg’s office declined to comment.
Trump’s three-part Truth Society post was his first response to the gag order. His focus on Murchin’s daughter and her ties to Democratic politics echoed arguments made by attorneys last year when they urged the judge to withdraw from the case. The judge also made several small donations totaling $35 to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign, including $15 to Biden.
Merchan said at the time that a state court ethics panel found that Loren Merchan’s work had no impact on his impartiality. The judge said in a ruling last September that he was convinced of his “ability to be fair and impartial” and that Trump’s lawyers “failed to show that there was a proper or even realistic reason to recuse, let alone require ” based on these reasons. ”
“The judge must recuse himself immediately and correct the mistake of not doing so last year,” Trump wrote on Wednesday. “If a biased and contradictory judge is allowed to continue hearing this phony ‘case,’ it will be a profound change in our country.” Another sad example of a banana republic instead of the America we used to know and love.”
In a recent interview, Mercha told The Associated Press that he and his staff were working hard to prepare for the historic first trial of the former president.
“There’s no agenda here,” Merchan said. “We want the law to be followed. We want justice to be served.”
Trump’s hush-money case, which will be the first of four criminal cases in which he goes to trial, centers on accusations that he mistakenly recorded payments to Cohen as attorney fees in company books when they were was paid for Cohen’s work during the 2016 campaign to cover up the truth. Negative stories about Trump. They include claims that Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 on Trump’s behalf so that she would not go public about a sexual encounter she had with him years ago.
Last April, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, but there is no guarantee that a conviction will result in prison time. He has denied having sex with Daniels, and his attorneys have said the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees and not part of any cover-up.
In issuing the gag order, Mocha cited Trump’s history of making “threatening, inflammatory, defamatory” remarks about people involved in his legal cases. Violations could result in Trump being held in contempt of court, fined or even jailed.
Although not restricted, Merchin cited various comments Trump made about him as examples of his rhetoric. The gag order echoes one imposed and largely upheld by a federal appeals court panel in Trump’s criminal election interference case in Washington.
Trump’s lawyers protested the gag order, warning it would constitute an unconstitutional and unlawful prior restraint on his right to free speech.
Merchin has long resisted imposing the measure, recognizing Trump’s “special” status as a former president and current candidate and not wanting to trample his ability to defend himself publicly.
But, he said, as the trial approached, he found that his obligation to ensure the integrity of the case outweighed First Amendment concerns. He said Trump’s comments stoked fear and extra security measures were needed to protect his targets and investigate threats.
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