- The silence judge, Juan Merchan, reviewed Trump’s silence order on Monday.
- The GOP front-runner needs to stop making statements about the judge’s progressive daughter.
- Trump spread false information last week about the judge’s daughter, a Democratic consultant.
Donald Trump’s silence judge in New York on Monday extended his silence order to bar statements about the judge’s daughter.
Trump is now prohibited from personally making — or directing others to make — statements about “family members of a lawyer, staff member, court or prosecutor of district,” if these statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with the case, the updated gag order now reads.
“It is the duty of this Court to protect the integrity of the criminal process and to control disruptive influences within the court,” wrote Justice Juan Merchan of the New York Supreme Court.
“It is ridiculous to claim that the most recent attacks, which included photographs, were ‘necessary and appropriate in today’s environment,'” the judge said, referring to arguments made by Trump against expanding the gag order.
The judge’s order came hours after a series of documents filed by prosecutors and the defense earlier Monday. Prosecutors denounced Trump’s “reprehensible” attacks on the judge’s daughter, and the defense doubled down on attacks, calling them constitutionally protected free speech.
Trump’s first criminal case remains on track for jury selection on April 15.
The case alleges that Trump falsified 34 business records to illegally hide $130,000 in hush money he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels just 11 days before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors say Trump violated tax and campaign finance law by disguising the payment as legal fees for then-personal attorney Michael Cohen. Trump has denied falsifying business records and said he never had sex with Daniels.
A history of the secret gag
Monday’s order is the latest in a contentious month-long battle over what Trump can say about his first criminal case to go to trial.
Prosecutors first sought a gag order in late February, when they complained about their lack of “impulse control” and propensity to attack witnesses and court staff.
Trump responded in early March that “tens of millions” of Americans wanted to hear his point of view on the matter.
The judge hesitated to gag Trump for three weeks, telling both sides that one warning was enough.
Then, early on March 26, Trump referenced Merchan’s progressive daughter and political consultant in an article from Truth Social.
Loren Mercan helps run Chicago-based progressive political consulting firm Authentic campaignswho worked on the campaigns of Trump’s primary rivals, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“His daughter is a senior executive at a super-liberal-Democratic company,” Trump wrote.
Merchan’s order of silence was made public just four hours later.
A gag with flaws
He barred Trump from making statements about witnesses, jurors, prosecutors and court staff. But it made no specific mention of statement bans against Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, or their families.
A day after the gag order, on March 27, Trump escalated his Truth Social attacks on Merchan’s daughter, this time mentioning her by name.
Trump falsely claimed the girl had a profile picture on her X account depicting Trump behind bars.
The girl “just posted a photo of me behind bars, her obvious goal,” Trump posted.
Court officials and prosecutors later countered that the account Trump was referring to was a hoax.
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