Donald Trump hit with wider gag order to protect judge's family in New York criminal case

Former President Donald Trump was hit with a wider gag order in his New York criminal hush money case after repeatedly targeting the judge's daughter in social media posts.

The order late Monday from Judge Juan Merchan blocks Trump from making public statements about family members of the judge or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg if the statements are meant to significantly interfere with work in the case. Merchan had issued a similar gag order when it came to statements about court staff and prosecutors other than Bragg, as well as about family members of those people.

"To argue that the most recent attacks, which included photographs, were 'necessary and appropriate in the current environment,' is farcical," Merchan wrote Monday, referencing an argument Trump's lawyers made in a filing earlier Monday as they fought expanding the gag order.

Trump's posts over the past week attacked the daughter, Loren Merchan, as "a Rabid Trump Hater" and referred to her role leading a marketing agency that works with Democratic candidates and nonprofits. They also included a photograph of her. The New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics determined last May that the judge's impartiality could not reasonably be questioned based on his daughter's work, stating that the case doesn't involve her business "directly or indirectly."

Trump's trial in the case is set to begin April 15 with jury selection. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels soon before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has said she had a consensual sexual encounter with Trump, a claim he denies. The payment, according to prosecutors, was meant to keep that story from the public before voters went to the polls.

Trump attacks threaten justice system, judge says

In expanding his earlier gag order, Merchan said Trump's attacks on a family member of a judge or prosecutor amount to attacks on the justice system itself.

"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," Merchan wrote.

"Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself," Merchan added.

Merchan also warned Trump that any legal right he has to access juror names would be forfeited "if he engages in any conduct that threatens the safety and integrity of the jury or the jury selection process." Bragg's office had asked Merchan to give that warning.

The judge's earlier gag order already prohibited Trump from making any public statements about potential or actual jurors.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump gagged again after attacking judge's daughter in hush money case