(Daily360.com) Donald Trump is slated to stand trial in New York City for a third case in the middle of April and that judge has issued a wide-ranging gag order on the former president.
Justice Juan Merchan blasted Trump in his five page gag order that now includes anyone in Merchan’s family. Merchan had previously issued a gag order on Trump relating to officials directly involved with the case. Trump’s lawyers argued that the initial gag order only being imposed on him and not the prosecution limited his free speech rights and argued that expanding it infringes on his rights further.
Merchan downplayed the concerns of Trump’s rights being violated, labeling his lawyer’s arguments as “farcical.” The primary reason for the expanded gag order is information being circulated on social media relating to the judges daughter, Loren Merchan, and her close ties to key Democrats who oppose Trump. Loren Merchan, 34, runs a political consulting firm and has done business in the millions of dollars with Democrats. Her key clients include one of the most vehement Trump enemies on Capitol Hill, Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (CA). In addition to Schiff, Merchan has among her clients Vice President Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and she frequently donates money to Act Blue.
Additionally, Loren’s Twitter profile appeared to have used a picture of Trump behind bars as its photo logo. There has been some dispute regarding her possibly having changed Twitter handles in recent months. Trump’s lawyers argue that if the judge’s daughter could profit from this case then at the very least the judge should recuse himself due to the appearance of impropriety. The judge shot those concerns down by saying he spoke with ethics officials and determined himself to be unbiased.
Once the information surrounding Loren Merchan became known, Trump posted much of it on his Truth Social account, demanding the judge recuse himself or the case be dismissed. It was those posts that caused Merchan to blast Trump as endangering his family. Trump’s lawyers plan to file a new recusal motion in the coming days.
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