US prosecutors have suggested Donald Trump violated a gag order in his hush-money criminal case by assailing the judge's daughter and making a false claim about her on social media.
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The Manhattan district attorney's office asked Judge Juan M Merchan to "clarify or confirm" the scope of the gag order, which he issued on Tuesday, and to direct the former president to "immediately desist from attacks on family members".
In a letter to Merchan on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass argued the gag order's ban on statements meant to interfere with or harass the court's staff or their families makes the judge's daughter off-limits from Trump's rhetoric. He said Trump should be punished for further violations.
Trump's lawyers contended the DA's office is misinterpreting the order and said it doesn't prohibit him from commenting about Loren Merchan, a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for Trump's rival, President Joe Biden, and other Democrats.
The trial, which involves allegations Trump falsified payment records in a scheme to cover up negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign, is scheduled to begin on April 15.
Trump denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
In his posts on Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that Loren Merchan "makes money by working to 'Get Trump,'" and he wrongly accused her of posting a social media photo showing him behind bars.
A spokesperson for New York's state court system said Trump's claim was false and that the social media account Trump was referencing no longer belonged to Loren Merchan.
In the same Truth Social posts, Trump complained that his gag order was "illegal, un-American, unConstitutional".
He said Judge Merchan was "wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponisation of Law Enforcement" by Democratic rivals.
The gag order, which prosecutors had requested, bars Trump from either making or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about jurors or potential witnesses in the hush-money trial, such as his lawyer-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels.
The order, echoing one in Trump's Washington, DC, election interference criminal case, also prohibits any statements meant to interfere with or harass the court's staff, prosecution team or their families.
Trump, however, is free to criticise Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting Trump -- but Steinglass wants his family off limits, too.
A gag order violation could result in Trump being held in contempt of court, fined or even jailed.
Australian Associated Press
