Judge expands Trump gag order in DA Bragg case after ex-president targets daughter

The judge overseeing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution of Donald Trump on Monday expanded a gag order against the former president to prevent him from commenting on his daughter.

New York Judge Juan Merchan imposed the gag order last week, preventing Trump from publicly discussing jurors, attorneys, and court staff, while exempting Bragg specifically.

Merchan's Monday decision expanded the order to include his family and that of Bragg, the New York Times reported. Both he and Bragg remain valid targets for Trump's public criticism.

Bragg sought the expansion last week after Trump criticized the gag order and highlighted the judge's daughter's own left-wing political engagement. Loren Merchan, he said last week, is a "[r]abid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me."

Trump previously asked Merchan to recuse himself from the case due to his daughter's employment and his past rulings involving the ex-commander-in-chief, though he did not do so.

The Manhattan DA charged Trump last year with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to a 2016 payment his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty and insists the case is part of a broader political witch hunt designed to derail his 2024 bid to return to the White House.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.