New boundaries set in Trump’s N.Y. gag order

The judge ruling over former President Donald Trump’s New York hush money case has expanded the gag order he placed on Trump last week — on Monday declaring his family and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg off-limits.

New York Judge Juan M. Merchan filed the gag order last week, saying that Trump’s “statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating, and the targets of his statements ranged from local and federal officials, court and court staff, prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals, including grand jurors performing their civic duties.”

The indictment brought on by Bragg alleges that Trump manipulated business documents connected to a payment intended to prevent adult film star Stormy Daniels from speaking out. The payment was orchestrated by Trump’s ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

The gag order is similar to the one from his criminal case in Washington, D.C., concerning election interference, which also forbids statements aimed at disrupting or intimidating the court personnel, the prosecuting team or their relatives.

If Trump were to break the rules of the gag order, he could face a fine or even be jailed until he is willing to comply.

The change in the gag order comes after Trump made comments regarding Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, who is “president of Authentic Campaigns, a Chicago-based progressive political consulting firm whose top clients include Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and the Senate Majority PAC, a major party fundraiser,” per the New York Post.

Last week, following the gag order being imposed, Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, “Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately. His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me.”

Following Trump’s comments on social media regarding his family, Merchan said 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,” per The Associated Press. “The threat is very real. Admonitions are not enough, nor is reliance on self-restraint.”

Trump’s legal team contested the gag order and its new changes, arguing that it infringed on constitutional rights by limiting Trump’s ability to speak freely.

According to The New York Times, Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, called the amended gag order “unconstitutional.”

“He said, it prevents Mr. Trump from engaging in political speech, ‘which is entitled to the highest level of protection under the First Amendment.’ He added, ‘The voters of America have a fundamental right to hear the uncensored voice of the leading candidate for the highest office in the land,’” The New York Times added.