Former President Trump sued the New York judge overseeing his hush money case Monday over the gag order he imposed on the former president — an eleventh-hour bid to delay the trial which is scheduled to begin next week.
Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order bars Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and the judge’s family, but doesn’t stop him from hurling insults at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) or the judge himself.
The documents were placed under seal, though several outlets have reported that they pertain to the gag order.
The Hill requested comment from Trump’s lawyers and his campaign regarding the lawsuit, which essentially functions as an appeal of the gag order.
Loren Merchan is also the subject of the former president’s efforts to recuse the judge from the case — an effort he has mounted twice.
The long-shot lawsuit against Merchan comes just a week before Trump is scheduled to head to trial in his New York criminal case on April 15.
Trump previously employed the tactic in his New York civil fraud trial, during which a different Manhattan judge imposed a similar gag order.
If the hush money trial proceeds as planned, it will mark Trump’s first criminal trial and the first criminal trial of any former U.S. president.
The former president filed a last-ditch attempt to postpone the trial, which is set to start next week, by suing the New York judge in charge of his hush money case on Monday over the gag order the judge placed on the former president.
Trump is prohibited by Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order from disparaging witnesses, prosecutors, court employees, and the judge’s family, but this doesn’t stop him from insulting the judge or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
The documents were sealed, but according to a few outlets, they have something to do with the gag order. The lawsuit is effectively an appeal of the gag order, and The Hill asked Trump’s legal team and campaign for comments on it.
Merchan’s initial order restricting the former president’s speech was based on his “uncontested record” of attacks on people connected to his legal matters. He chose to chastise Trump rather than gag him at first, but after Bragg’s office asked for it last month, he consented to do so.
After a string of posts by Trump regarding the judge’s daughter, who works for a progressive political consulting firm, the judge extended his order to include attacks on Bragg’s family and his own a few weeks later.
Vice President Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N), and prominent Democrats President Biden and Vice President Biden’s daughter Loren are among the clients of Merchan’s digital agency, Authentic. Y).
The former president has made two attempts to have the judge recuse herself from the case, both times focusing on Loren Merchan. Trump’s most recent attempt to have the judge recuse himself came on Friday. He claimed that the former president’s daughter had a “direct financial interest” in the case, considering that the firm has worked with his opponents in the 2024 presidential race.
A week before Trump is supposed to go on trial in his criminal case in New York on April 15, there is a longshot lawsuit against Merchan. The former president is charged on 34 counts related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels by his former fixer to conceal an alleged affair before the 2016 election. His plea of not guilty has been entered.
Trump’s lawsuit against Merchan may receive a preliminary ruling from a New York appeals judge as early as Monday, after which it will be sent to a full five-judge panel for consideration of the request.
A different Manhattan judge imposed a similar gag order during Trump’s previous use of the same strategy in his New York civil fraud trial. The highest court in New York dismissed an appeal of the bid.
In an attempt to put his criminal trial in Manhattan and the other three cases against him on hold until after the 2024 election—in which he is expected to be the GOP nominee—Trump has asked to postpone them all.
In the event that the hush money trial goes forward as scheduled, it will be the first criminal trial for both Trump and any former U.S. S. head of state.
Associated Press was involved.
