FILE — Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Waterford Township, Mich., Feb. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Former President Donald Trump tested the legal limits in his New York civil and criminal cases during a flurry of social media posts Saturday.
In multiple Truth Social missives, the 45th president ran the gamut of recent vintage legal controversies in the Empire State — from raging against the two defamation cases he lost in lawsuits filed by writer E. Jean Carroll to attacking the judge in his ongoing criminal case over alleged hush-money payments made to adult actress Stormy Daniels.
The Saturday afternoon onslaught could invite additional court filings or formal mentions in at least some of the cases referenced.
On Tuesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan M. Merchan expanded an earlier gag order in the hush-money case — expressly disallowing Trump from making public statements regarding “the family members of any counsel, staff member, the Court or the District Attorney.” That order came after a series of Truth Social attacks in which Trump went after Merchan’s daughter for her work as an in-demand Democratic Party political consultant.
The order did, however, reserve Trump’s right to continue criticizing either Merchan himself or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
On Saturday, the ex-president exercised that right.
“Crooked Judge Juan Merchan is not allowing me to talk, is taking away my First Amendment Rights, he’s got me GAGGED, because he doesn’t want the FACTS behind the Gag to come out,” Trump wrote.
Trump leveled his latest criticism of Merchan within the context of current and former court cases against him — suggesting the presence of a grand conspiracy of judges and others who have somehow abused the legal process to hamstring him politically.
“How many Corrupt, Biased, Crooked Joe Biden-‘Protection Agency’ New York Judges do I have to endure before somebody steps in?” Trump asked.
While the comments about Merchan are unlikely to prompt a response entirely on their own, either Bragg or the judge might feel bound to mention them in response to Trump’s second recusal motion filed in the case. Earlier this week, Trump’s attorneys formally asked for Merchan to take himself off the case due to his daughter’s work.
But it’s not just the criminal case that earned the ex-president’s ire on Saturday. Trump also took the opportunity to launch barbs and accusations against the judge who oversaw the defamation cases that netted Carroll some $83.3 million in damages. Both judgments are currently on appeal after Trump posted a $91.63 million bond.
“I had New York Federal Judge, Lewis Kaplan, with a woman who I never knew, and had nothing to do with, until she sued me for ‘defamation,”” Trump posted. “She did not know what day, month, or year the supposed ‘incident’ took place — She knew nothing.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Trump’s frequent and continued efforts to cast doubt on Carroll’s rape claims — which have been adjudicated to be true for civil purposes — open him up to a third potential defamation lawsuit, according to multiple legal experts.
“This mysterious lady, who said rape is sexy, got $91 Million Dollars,” Trump posted on his website, poking the Carroll bear once again.
In another post, the former president also lashed out at the judge who oversaw the blockbuster civil order that would have barred his family’s business empire from doing business in New York State — and who issued a $454 million civil fine.
While the voluble commentary appears engineered to skirt the hush-money case gag order, Trump also kept open the possibility of defying that same order — and said he would be happy to do so.
“Now, we have Merchan, who is not allowing me to talk, thereby violating the Law and the Constitution, all at once,” another post reads. “It is so bad what he is trying to get away with — How was he even chosen for this case??? I heard he fought like hell to get it, and all of the rest of them also! If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the ‘clink’ for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela — It will be my GREAT HONOR. We have to Save our Country from these Political Operatives masquerading as Prosecutors and Judges, and I am willing to sacrifice my Freedom for that worthy cause.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
