Donald Trump’s legal team aimed to justify the former president’s online attacks against the daughter of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in a court filing on Monday, arguing that the remarks constitute criticism against the jurist.
Trump has raged against Merchan since the federal justice, who is presiding over the former president’s hush-money case in New York, issued a gag order against Trump last week. Merchan’s order limits what Trump can say publicly about court staff, jurors, potential witnesses and lawyers involved in his 34-count criminal case in Manhattan, which stems from alleged payments made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
The former president is known for taking to social media, namely his Truth Social account, to attack his opponents and those involved in his long list of legal challenges ahead of November’s election. He has specifically attacked Merchan’s daughter twice since the judge granted a gag order requested by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and has accused Merchan of being a “Trump-hating judge” because his daughter works for a Democratic political consulting firm.
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One of Trump’s posts focused on an image published by an X, formerly Twitter, account supposedly run by Merchan’s daughter, Loren, which shared a mock-up image of the former president behind bars. The account, however, is no longer linked to Loren Merchan and appears to be have taken over by another person since she deleted it last year, according to the New York state court system.
In a court filing Monday, Trump’s lawyers wrote that the account was “attributed” to Loren Merchan, but acknowledged that the post in question was not published by the judge’s daughter.
Still, the defense stood firm in the filing. It argued that Merchan’s gag order violates Trump’s First Amendment rights, and that such attacks against Merchan’s family are a form of political speech, adding that the posts are a “criticism” of the judge’s decision to not recuse himself from the case.
“President Trump’s social media posts amplified defense arguments regarding the need for recusal that have been, and will continue to be, the subject of motion practice,” Monday’s filing read.
“The posts also addressed specific political opponents who are clients of Authentic, where [Merchan]’s daughter is a partner and executive, and responded to media reports regarding a social media account attributed to [Merchan]’s daughter,” the defense continued. “President Trump also noted in one of the posts that these issues are relevant to ‘the 2024 Presidential Election.'”
The former president has repeatedly claimed that the legal challenges against him are a form of “election interference,” and he has pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges in the hush-money case.
When reached for comment, Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told Newsweek in a statement that Merchan “has a clear conflict, and him continuing to be involved in this Crooked Joe Biden – directed Witch Hunt is a complete violation of applicable rules, regulations, and ethics.”
“Authentic Campaigns, and thus the judge’s daughter, is actively making money from this sham attack against President Trump, rendering Judge Merchan conflicted out. The judge should do the right thing and immediately recuse himself in order to show the American people that the Democrats have not destroyed our justice system completely,” he added.
Monday’s filing from Trump’s legal team was in response to a request from Bragg’s office to clarify if Merchan’s order protects family members of the court and prosecutors from facing attacks by the former president. The district attorney’s office argued in a filing Monday that Trump’s “dangerous, violent, and reprehensible rhetoric fundamentally threatens the integrity” of the case, and that Merchan’s original order should be expanded to protect family members of the court.
“This Court should immediately make clear that defendant is prohibited from making or directing others to make public statements about family members of the Court, the District Attorney, and all other individuals mentioned in the Order,” the filing read.
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