The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal trial in New York said on Monday that the former president had made inflammatory comments about the judge’s family after they became targets of personal attacks by Trump. The existing gag order prohibiting people from doing so has been expanded.
The new protective order allows President Trump to continue to slam judges and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who last year indicted Trump on charges of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal before the 2016 election. Ta.
But New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchand said in a revised order that Trump now attacks not only the families of judges and district attorneys, but also the families of lawyers and court officials involved in the case. stated that it is expressly prohibited.
The order cited President Trump’s recent attacks on the judge’s daughter, saying Trump should be free to criticize perceived conflicts of interest and other complaints as “core political speech.” rejected the president’s claims.
“This pattern of attacking the family members of the lead jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases has no legitimate purpose,” Marchand wrote. “It simply instills fear in those assigned or called to participate in litigation that not only they but their families are ‘fair game.’
The original gag order said Trump could not make statements about trial witnesses or direct others to make statements regarding their role in investigations or trials. Prosecutors other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Members of the court staff and Bragg staff.
The order also provides that if President Trump’s comments were intended to disrupt the work of a case or were made with the knowledge that the comments were likely to disrupt the work of a case, attorneys and staff It was forbidden to attack family members.
But the order did not specifically prevent Trump from speaking out about the judge’s family. The loophole became apparent after Trump began going after the judge’s daughter, Lauren Marchan, with a series of posts hinting at her political activities. interest.
Personal attack on judge’s daughter It came to me last Wednesday, when Trump attacked her for supposedly using a photo from behind bars as the profile picture on her X account. President Trump wrote that the photo “made it completely impossible for him to receive a fair trial.”
However, it appears that the account was fake. A court spokeswoman said the X account used to belong to Lauren Marchan, but she had since deleted it. It is unclear who else took over the handle and used the photo.
Trump and his supporters remained undaunted despite the official denial. Trump’s attorneys maintain that the account is still connected to the judge’s daughter, perpetuating claims that the entire family is biased against the former president.
The judge’s obsession with his daughter appears to be fueled in part by the fact that she worked as an executive at Authentic, a digital marketing agency that works with Democratic candidates. Mr. Trump previously unsuccessfully tried to remove the judge because of his daughter’s work.
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Prosecutors on Friday asked a judge to clarify whether the gag order was intended to protect Mr. Trump’s relatives and the district attorney’s relatives from Mr. Trump’s abuse. They also suggested that Trump be held in contempt, arguing that the original gag order already had family considerations in mind.
Marchand accepted prosecutors’ request for an explanation, but declined to accuse Trump of insulting him.
“The court’s March 26, 2024 order did not take into account this court or the district attorney’s family,” the order states. “Therefore, this court need not determine whether the statements were intended to substantially interfere with these proceedings.”
Separately, Trump met a deadline Monday night to post $175 million bail to appeal the verdict in a New York civil fraud case. The judge found him guilty of conspiring to inflate his net worth in order to obtain higher profits and other financial benefits. Favorable financing terms from banks.
New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron awarded Trump $454 million in the fraud case. Trump’s lawyers last month successfully argued for a bond reduction, averting a potential financial crisis for the former president who has struggled to raise money.
Reducing the national debt gave Trump a lifeline. If the appeals court’s five-judge panel had denied his request, Trump risked losing control of his bank accounts and even some key assets. By donating $175 million, Trump blocked the New York attorney general from collecting it during his appeal.
