Donald Trump's Attack on Judge's Daughter 'Deliberate' Message: Attorney

Donald Trump's online attacks on the daughter of a judge are intended to send a deliberate message to "potential witnesses and potential jurors that they too should be fearful," according to an experienced former federal prosecutor.

Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama, was commenting on the ruling of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan who on Monday expanded a gag order in Trump's hush money case after the former president assailed Loren Merchan, on social media, making false claims about her.

Vance, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, added that Trump is in effect saying: "If I can get away with doing this to the judge's daughter who you know, has some access to protection here and to recourse you, you know, random juror, I will be able to go after you too'."

Trump's original gag order, issued last Tuesday, barred him from either making or directing others to make public statements on his behalf about jurors or potential witnesses in the trial.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office then asked Merchan to "clarify or confirm" the scope of the gag order after Trump's attacks on Loren Merchan, a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

The revised gag order leaves Trump free to criticize Merchan and Bragg, but bars him from making any statements about their families. A violation could result in Trump being held in contempt of court, fined or even jailed.

Speaking on the podcast CAFE Insider with Preet Bharara, who was fired as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York by the Trump administration in 2017, Vance suggested that Trump was being "deliberate" in his targeting of Merchan's daughter.

"This is simply speculation," she said. "Trump was pretty deliberate here. He looked at the gag order, and picked out one exception he could get away with."

She said: "I think the message that Trump sends when he goes after the judge's daughter is a message to witnesses and a message to jurors, and it says, 'I can attack you too'."

She added: "And I think Trump is deliberately now trying to do what mobsters do in cases, right? It's a mafia sort of a tactic, intimidate witnesses and jurors."

Trump's lawyers said in a court filing on Monday that Merchan's gag order violates Trump's First Amendment rights. They wrote that attacks against Merchan's family are a form of political speech, and that the posts are a "criticism" of the judge's decision to not recuse himself from the case.

Newsweek has contacted Vance and Trump's attorney, Susan Necheles, for comment via email.

Bharara noted that attacking adversaries is Trump's modus operandi. "This is what he does with his adversaries in the campaign," he said.

"This is what he does with his adversaries in the Senate. This is what he does with his adversaries in business. This is what he does with his adversaries in the press. And that's just how he operates. It's his MO. And he's not differentiating or distinguishing this particular special target constituency, which is the judges in the cases who are going to preside over essentially his fate and loss of liberty potentially."

Vance said that if Trump violates the revised gag order, Merchan will have to make a decision about whether to jail the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

She said: "I think as a prosecutor, in this setting, if Trump violates the gag order, clearly, again, I would make the argument, 'judge this is a guy who a $2,000 fine is going to mean absolutely nothing to and the only option here is to put him in jail for 24 hours to show him that you mean business.'

"I think the choice Judge Merchan will have at that point is to concede that Trump is above the law and can do whatever he wants going into trial, or to actually back himself up."

Noting that Merchan has been "very measured," she said Trump could end up receiving a fine and a warning about being jailed for a second violation.

"I think if Trump cannot control his behavior, the judge is going to reach the point where he'll have to make that decision," she added.

The hush money case is set to be the first of Trump's four criminal cases to go to trial on April 15.

It centers on allegations that Trump falsely logged payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen as legal fees when they were for Cohen's work covering up allegations of extramarital sexual encounters during Trump's 2016 election campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, and denies all wrongdoing. Trump claims the charges are part of a political witch hunt against him.