Former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at 40 Wall Street on March 25, 2024 in New York.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Donald Trump on Wednesday again took aim at the daughter of the judge in his upcoming criminal silence trial on social media – a day after the judge imposed a gag order limiting what Trump can say about the case.
Trump, in a Truth Social haranguehe blasted New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan as a “hater” and repeated his call for the judge to recuse himself from the case.
Trump pointed to Merchan’s daughter’s work in progressive politics and a social media account he claims is hers as evidence that it is “absolutely impossible” for him to have a “fair trial.”
Merchan’s daughter “represents impostor Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff and other Radical Liberals, [and] she just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious target,” Trump claimed.
The posts marked Trump’s second straight day highlighting Merchan’s daughter’s role as president of Authentic Campaigns, a Democratic political consulting firm. The firm advertises its work for clients including President Joe Biden, against whom Trump is campaigning, as well as other Democratic groups and politicians.
“Maybe the judge is so hateful because his daughter makes money working for ‘Get Trump’ and when he rules against me over and over again, he makes her company, and her, richer and richer,” Trump wrote. “How can this be allowed?”
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, declined to comment on Trump’s posts in light of the gag order, which restricts him from making certain statements about “family members of any adviser or staff member.”
The posts extended Trump’s stream of attacks against Merchan that began after the judge set an April 15 trial date in the hush money case. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s latest attacks on Merchan’s daughter went further than his previous comments, claiming she “just posted” a picture of him behind bars.
Trump appeared to be referring to a social media outlet account on X, previously owned by Authentic related with Merchan’s daughter.
As recently as Wednesday, this X account featured an edited shot of Trump behind bars as his profile picture. As of Wednesday afternoon, that profile picture had been changed to a childhood photo of Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris had shared this photo on social media during a 2019 Democratic primary debate, shortly after attacking then-rival Biden over his record on buses.
The X account does not currently belong to Merchan’s daughter, according to a spokesperson for the Office of Court Administration.
“The X account, formerly Twitter, attributed to Judge Merchan’s daughter no longer belongs to her after she deleted it about a year ago,” the spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News.
“She is not associated with her email address, nor has she posted under that screen name since deleting the account,” the statement said. “It probably represents the reconstitution, last April, and the manipulation of an account he had abandoned long ago.”
X indicates the account “joined April 2023”, four months after Authentic last he said in a post on social media.
Trump was indicted in the hush money case last April. At the same time, several far-right news outlets published reports about Merchan’s daughter’s political activities.
Account X’s posts are protected, meaning they can only be viewed by approved followers.
But Trump on Wednesday maintained that the bill is hers, pushing back against his latest gag order.
“So let me get this straight, the judge’s daughter is allowed to post pictures of her ‘dream’ of putting me in jail, the Manhattan DA can tell all the lies he wants about me, the judge can be breaking laws and our Constitution at every turn, but I’m not allowed to talk about the attacks on me and the Mad Men who are trying to destroy my life and prevent me from winning the 2024 Presidential Election, which I dominate?” He wrote.
The gag order imposed on Tuesday does not completely restrict Trump from speaking out about his critics. He can still criticize the prosecutor in his case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and is not expressly prohibited from speaking about Merchan himself.
However, Trump is barred from making public statements about potential witnesses and jurors in the case.
And he can’t talk about case lawyers, court staff, employees in the DA’s office and their family members if those statements are made with the “intent to materially interfere” with the proceedings.
Merchan wrote in the order that Trump’s previous statements about various individuals involved in the case “were threatening, inflammatory [and] underestimating”.
“Such inflammatory statements undoubtedly risk obstructing the proper administration of this Court,” wrote the judge, who also noted “the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a member of his family.”
“As the eve of the trial looms, it is undisputed that the imminent possibility of harm is now paramount,” he wrote.
Trump had mentioned Merchan’s daughter on Truth Social during his time call in the case of hush money.
Trump’s lawyers in a court filing last May referenced Merchan’s daughter’s work as they urged the judge to recuse himself from the case.
Merchant, in August, turned down to do.