“Intimidating the judge”: Expert says Trump Truth Social post put a “target” on judge’s daughter

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked the judge overseeing his Manhattan criminal hush-money case and his daughter.

“Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers  from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In other words, he hates me! His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem)Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden.”

Trump’s post came a day after Merchan took his lawyers to task for claiming prosecutorial misconduct in the case and set his trial to begin on April 15.

“Trump puts a target not only Judge Merchan in the criminal case in Manhattan but on his daughter,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance. “This is a rank effort at intimidating the judge by threatening his family. It merits a gag order but also serious pushback from GOP leadership—which we know won't come.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg already asked Merchan to impose a partial gag order to prevent Trump from publicly discussing jurors, witnesses, or others involved in the case as well as court employees and their families. Trump was previously hit with a gag order in his New York fraud trial after targeting the judge's clerk in online attacks.