Donald Trump has been in and out of court like a yo-yo over the last few months, and the media has been following his every move. Back in October, Judge Tanya Chutkan - who presided over his election interference case - placed a gag order on the ex-President. Within hours, Trump had ‘lashed out’ at the judge during a rally.
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Now, the former POTUS is back at it again. Judge Juan Merchan is presiding over the criminal trial involving Trump and the alleged hush money he is accused of having paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The actress claims to have had sex with Trump, and then reportedly received payments from him to keep silent in the run-up to the 2016 election. On Tuesday 26 March, Judge Juan Merchan issued another gag order to Trump. On Wednesday 27 March, Trump attacked his daughter online. Here’s everything you need to know.
Trump breaks his gag order
Trump broke his gag order with a post to his Truth Social platform. He wrote:
Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional 'order,' as he continues to try and take away my Rights.
His rant continued: ‘This Judge, by issuing a vicious 'Gag Order,' is wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement, including the fact that Crooked Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and their Hacks and Thugs are tracking and following me all across the Country, obsessively trying to persecute me, while everyone knows I have done nothing wrong!’
Trump was issued this gag order after he made similarly inappropriate remarks about the judge, calling him a ‘certified Trump hater’. However, what he said about the judge's daughter is not completely baseless: here’s the context.
Judge Merchan’s daughter
Judge Merchan issued a four-page document detailing the boundaries of Trump’s gag order. It detailed that the former POTUS was to ‘refrain’ from making comments about potential witnesses, prosecutors and staff involved in the case.
While his attack on Merchant's daughter Loren breaks the rules of his gag order, Trump’s claims are not without some base. An X account with the username @lorenm426 did indeed feature an image of Trump behind bars as its profile picture. The account has now been locked, but the photo is still visible.
However, the New York state court system has said the account no longer belongs to Loren Merchan. Speaking about the profile, a spokesperson said:
It is not linked to her email address, nor has she posted under that screen name since she deleted the account. Rather, it represents the reconstitution, last April, and manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned.
Reactions to Trump’s behaviour
Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and Trump supporter, has weighed in on this issue. She said: ‘It's clearly inappropriate. You have the daughter of a judge posting a profile photo on X of President Trump locked up in a prison cell’. She went on to say Judge Merchan should step away from the case:
The American people need to ask themselves how would they feel if they faced criminal charges in a trial...and had a child who publicly posted against you and is working for the person [Joe Biden] running against you. It's blatant election interference and I agree with President Trump that [Judge Merchan] should recuse himself.
New York City-based attorney Nicole Brenecki thinks otherwise. She conceded that ‘Trump can definitely criticize and dispute the legal validity of the gag order’ but asserted that ‘the personal attacks on the judge's daughter were petty and unnecessary’.
This Daniels hush money trial is set to start on April 15.
Read more:
⋙ Donald Trump starts selling ‘Make America Pray Again’ Bibles
⋙ Donald Trump's wife Melania was reportedly 'livid' over his use of son Barron in a campaign post
⋙ Donald Trump: Former President claims he has the $454m to pay his legal fine
Sources used:
Newsweek: Donald Trump Attacks Judge's Daughter Less Than 24 Hours After Gag Order
New York Times: Trump Spreads Apparent Hoax in Attacking Judge’s Daughter
