Trump Deliberately Targeting Judges’ Families

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – On April 1, Judge Juan Merchan expanded his gag order against former President Donald Trump to include the judge’s family and the family of lead prosecutor Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The latest expanded gag order came after Trump posted about Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, in a March 28 post on Truth Social. In the post, Trump noted the judge “should be removed,” adding that he is “totally compromised” because of his daughter, who Trump described as a “Rabid Trump Hater.” Trump noted that the digital marketing agency Loren Merchan works for had worked on campaigns for Democrats, including President Joe Biden, adding that she had posted on social media a photo that depicted her “obvious goal” of seeing Trump in jail.

If Trump violates the gag order, Merchan warned he would impose sanctions.

This is not the first time a gag order against Trump has been expanded. In the last six months, in three different cases, gag orders against Trump have been expanded to include witnesses in the cases, court employees, and others involved in the cases against him.

Trump shared posts about Judge Arthur Engoron’s wife that stated she had posted anti-Trump messages on social media during his civil case for business fraud. During his federal criminal case in Washington, D.C., where he faces charges that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results, Trump posted on social media that the U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan was from a “Marxist family.” He also posted about special counsel Jack Smith’s family, stating that he is despised more by Smith’s “wife and family” than by Smith. The versions of the gag orders in effect when Trump made the posts did not bar him explicitly from attacking the families of prosecutors and judges.

A White House lawyer under Trump, Ty Cobb, called Trump’s attacks “clearly strategic,” adding that they are designed to delegitimize the court proceedings.

However, Trump’s attorneys say the expanded gag orders violate Trump’s right to free speech. His attorney, John Lauro, has previously stated that the exercise of free speech “should allow a criminal defendant to observe that a prosecution is politically biased.”