Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
…A WaPo analysis of #Trump’s #SocialMedia posts since the start of his campaign in late 2022 showed that he has gone after #judges or their family members by name 138 times. The weeks of Mar 24 & Mar 17, respectively, included the 2nd & 4th highest number of posts attacking judges overall. Trump criticized judges most frequently during the wk of Jan 7, w/ 14 individual #attacks, nearly all targeted at #Engoron.
#GagOrder Against #Trump Is Expanded to Stop Attacks on Judge’s Family
Donald Trump had in recent days targeted the daughter of Juan #Merchan, the judge overseeing his #criminal trial in Manhattan, in blistering social media posts.
#Merchan: “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. Admonitions are not enough, nor is reliance on self-restraint. The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant's [#Trump] 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.”
#Trump files challenge to the Manhattan trial #GagOrder & in the filing Trump’s attorneys actually attack Judge #Merchan’s daughter & say Trump’s attacks on her & on the judge are justified.
#Trump’s attys response which tries to justify his #attacks on Judge #Merchan & his daughter says,
“there was nothing ‘contumacious’ about the social media posts…& no ‘warn[ing]’ would be appropriate.”
It goes on,
“…the Court cannot ‘direct’ President Trump to do something that the #GagOrder does not require. To ‘clarify or confirm’ the meaning…would be to expand it. No expansion is appropriate….”
#Republican-appointed judges raise alarm over #Trump attacks on #law
Federal DC Judge #ReggieWalton warned Trump’s attacks on #HushMoney trial judge & others could lead to #violence.
The Republican-appointed judge denounced Trump’s attacks against the judge presiding over his hush money trial in Manhattan & his daughter, calling them assaults on the #RuleOfLaw that could lead to violence & #tyranny.
Since late 2020, as #Trump began escalating his #attacks on the #judiciary, serious investigated #threats against fed #judges have more than doubled, from 224 in 2021 to 457 in 2023, acc/to the US Marshals Service. Fed judges in DC say ≥½ of trial judges handling cases arising from the #Jan6, attack on the Capitol have received a surge in threats & #harassment, incl’g #DeathThreats to their homes, w/Trump’s #ElectionObstruction trial judge, Tanya #Chutkan, placed under 24-hr protection.