Confusion over the latest gag order against Donald Trump in his New York criminal hush money case came to a head Friday evening after warring pre-motions filed by defense counsel and prosecutors questioned whether the former president is barred from commenting on the judge and his family members.
Ever since New York Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order against Trump on March 26, the former president has lashed out at his daughter, who is president of a marketing firm that serves Democratic politicians, including by calling her a “Rabid Trump Hater” in a social media post. Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office told Merchan in a letter sent Thursday that the Democratic DA understands the recent order to cover family members.
“The People believe that the March 26 Order is properly read to protect family members of the Court. But to avoid any doubt, this Court should now clarify or confirm that the Order protects family members of the Court, the District Attorney, and all other individuals mentioned in the Order,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass wrote in a letter to the judge.
In response to Steinglass’s Thursday letter, which became publicly available on Friday, Trump’s counsel filed their own pre-motion arguing that “Contrary to the People’s suggestion, the Court cannot ‘direct’ President Trump to do something that the gag order does not require.”
“To ‘clarify or confirm’ the meaning of the gag order in the way the People suggest would be to expand it,” Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles wrote, adding that the district attorney’s office failed to make their case “on the basis of a one-page letter citing only two cases.”
Attorneys with Bragg’s office were clear in their Thursday letter to Merchan that they believe the gag order should apply to Merchan’s family but stopped short of saying the order should apply to the judge himself.
The March 26 gag order limits Trump from making statements about potential witnesses, attorneys, court staff, or other family members of prosecutors or lawyers but left open the ability for Trump to speak about Bragg.
Eric Columbus, former special litigation counsel for the House of Representatives, speculated that the purpose of the letter from Bragg’s office is to “make crystal-clear that Trump cannot attack his family.”
“Gag order, read fairly, encompasses the DA’s family, but not 100% clear. Judge’s daughter discussed just for optics,” Columbus wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Steinglass also warned Trump should “immediately desist” from future violations of the order, and that if he doesn’t, he should be held accountable under two sections of New York judiciary law that pertain to criminal contempt.
Trump has ramped up his attacks on those involved in his hush money case as his trial date approaches. Merchan at a Monday hearing refused Trump’s lawyers request to postpone the trial past its April 15 start date.
Trump’s lawyers cited two media reports in their letter, one from the Associated Press, crediting the outlet for “explaining that the gag order ‘does not bar comments about Merchan or his family.’” A separate article from Forbes is credited for “explaining that social media posts at issues ‘are not barred by the gag order issued earlier this week.’”
The filings come one day after a U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, appeared on CNN Thursday night, opining on Trump’s “very disconcerting” comments about Merchan’s daughter that could lead to potential threats or violence against Merchan or his family.
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Walton notably said Merchan “did the right thing” by not including himself in the gag order that he imposed on Trump.
It’s unclear when Merchan will respond to the pre-motion letters regarding the gag order.
