Tag Archives: Alvin Bragg

Judge Expands Donald Trump Gag Order After Attacks On His Family

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A Manhattan judge expanded the limited gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump over his upcoming hush money trial after a series of attacks on the judge and his family.

Judge Juan Merchan barred the former president from going after his family members or those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, saying Trump’s efforts served “no legitimate purpose.”

“It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game’ for Defendant’s vitriol,” Merchan wrote on Monday. “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.”

His previous order blocked Trump from disparaging or making public comments about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or jurors. But the judge pointed to Trump’s comments in recent days and said the court could not rely on the former president to modulate his behavior during the proceedings without explicit instructions.

“Admonitions are not enough, nor is the reliance on self-restraint,” Merchan added. “The average observer, must now, after hearing defendant’s 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.”

The judge declared that those concerns would “undoubtedly” interfere with the fair administration of justice in the Manhattan criminal case.

Former President Donald Trump faces an expanded gag order in the Manhattan hush money case that's set to go to trial on April 15.
Former President Donald Trump faces an expanded gag order in the Manhattan hush money case that’s set to go to trial on April 15.

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Bragg’s office on Monday asked Merchan to expand the order after Trump took aim at the judge’s daughter, spreading false claims about her on social media.

“Defendant’s dangerous, violent, and reprehensible rhetoric fundamentally threatens the integrity of these proceedings and is intended to intimidate witnesses and trial participants alike — including this Court,” the district attorney wrote in a court filing.

“[Trump] knows what he is doing, and everyone else does too.”

The former president assailed Merchan after the judge imposed the order last week, claiming Merchan was attempting to deny the former president his “First Amendment Right to speak out against he Weaponization of Law Enforcement.” Trump claimed that Merchan’s daughter, Loren, had used an image of him behind bars as her profile picture on the social media platform X.

But that wasn’t true. The account once belonged to the judge’s daughter, but she deleted the handle about a year ago. It has since been taken over by someone else. A spokesperson for New York’s state court was forced to clarify that she was not linked to the account in any way.

“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 D.A. is able to say whatever lies about me he wants, the Judge can violate our Laws and Constitution at every turn, but I am not allowed to talk about the attacks against me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Loren Merchan is a Democratic political consultant.

Trump had been subject to a gag order during his civil fraud trial in New York. He was fined twice for violating the restrictions, and the judge overseeing the case warned the former president to refrain from doing so again or face even “worse” penalties.

Trump’s hush money trial is set to begin on April 15. It centers on payments made before the 2016 presidential election to quash accusations of extramarital affairs. The payments included a reported $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels less than a month before Election Day.

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Conservative Pundit Makes Alarming Prediction About Trump’s Rhetoric

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Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes predicted that Donald Trump will continue escalating his inflammatory rhetoric ahead of at least three criminal trials and the 2024 presidential election.

“The level of his rhetoric seems to be intensifying against prosecutors, judges, perhaps even jurors here,” Sykes said on MSNBC on Thursday. “And I think the people need to understand, you know, that this may sound like … the same old playbook. But he does seem to be ramping it up at exactly the moment when you would think that calmer heads would say, hey, we need to lower the temperature because this is dangerous.”

“In Donald Trump’s mind, an atmosphere of fear, chaos and violence actually works for him, he thinks,” Sykes added. “He looks at that and he goes yeah, I can I can work with this. This will benefit me.”

“He’s pouring the kerosene on the fire on a daily basis and again, it is ramping up and it’s going to get worse over the next year and a half,” he noted.

Sykes was reacting to the FBI killing of a Utah man authorities say made online death threats against US President Joe Biden and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Craig Robertson was shot on Wednesday by agents attempting to serve arrest and search warrants at his home, the FBI said.

According to charging documents, Robertson called Bragg ― who is prosecuting Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money case ― a “radical fool prosecutor” and threatened to kill him.

Trump routinely threatens and attacks judges and prosecutors involved in cases targeting him. He has repeatedly lashed out at Bragg, and once suggested that an indictment by Bragg could result in “death & destruction.”

The former president has been indicted three times this year, on charges related to a hush money payment in 2016, his handling of classified documents after leaving office and, most recently, over his attempted coup following the 2020 election.

Watch the MSNBC segment below.

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