The judge presiding over Donald Trump's impending New York criminal trial expanded a partial gag order Monday night following the former president's online attacks against his daughter.
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State Judge Juan Merchan said Trump is barred from attacking his family members and those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in addition to the witnesses, prosecutors, court staff members and their relatives whom he was directed to "refrain" from talking about in a previous gag order issued last week.
Trump's "pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose. It merely injects fear into those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ' fair game' for Defendant's vitriol," Merchan said Monday. "It is no longer just a mere possibility or a reasonable likelihood that there exists a threat to the integrity of the judicial proceedings. The threat is very real."
Trump's actions, he wrote, could have a chilling effect on a case that's just two weeks from the trial start date.
"The average observer must now, after hearing Defendant's recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself," Merchan wrote.
Lawyers for Trump had argued in a filing Monday that his repeated attacks on Merchan's daughter were protected political speech, while Manhattan prosecutors urged Merchan to crack down on Trump's escalating rhetoric.
Bragg's office contended Trump's bashing of Merchan's daughter on social media "fundamentally threatens the integrity of these proceedings and is intended to intimidate witnesses and trial participants alike."
The Trump attorneys' filing said Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, was not trying to interfere with the trial or "cause harm to anyone" but suggested he was, indeed, trying to pressure the judge.
"President Trump’s comments concerning Your Honor’s daughter are, properly understood, a criticism of the Court’s prior decision not to recuse itself," the filing said. Trump asked Merchan last year to step down from the case.
"President Trump’s social media posts amplified defense arguments regarding the need for refusal that have been, and will continue to be, the subject of motion practice," the filing added.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung argued in a statement before the ruling Monday night that Merchan has a "clear conflict" because of his daughter and "should do the right thing and immediately refuse himself."
Merchan's decision in August refusing to step aside noted that he had sought guidance from the state courts system's Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics over his daughter's employment. The committee found the DA's case “does not involve either the judge’s relative or the relative’s business, whether directly or indirectly. They are not parties or likely witnesses in the matter, and none of the parties or counsel before the judge are clients in the business. We see nothing in the inquiry to suggest that the outcome of the case could have any effect on the judge’s relative, the relative’s business, or any of her interests.”
Merchan’s daughter has worked as president of Authentic Campaigns, a firm Vice President Kamala Harris used for digital fundraising and advertising during her presidential campaign. The firm itself describes as “a digital agency progressives can trust to get the job done right.”
Bragg's office contended that Trump's "claim of a constitutional right to levy personal attacks on family members is as disturbing as it is wrong."
"This issue is not complicated. Family members of trial participants must be strictly off-limits. Defendant's insistence to the contrary bespeaks a dangerous sense of entitlement to instigate fear and even physical harm to the loved ones of those he sees in the courtroom," the DA's filing said.