NYC judge issues gag order against Trump ahead of Stormy Daniels hush money trial

“Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. In other words, he hates me! His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The judge, however, made clear those attacks were on his radar, referencing Trump’s comments about him “and a family member thereof.”

Trump is also under a gag order in his D.C. election subversion case and was placed under one on the second day of his civil fraud trial after disparaging the judge’s chief clerk. He violated the latter twice, resulting in $15,000 in fines.

The 77-year-old Trump, facing four criminal matters, has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in his Manhattan case, alleging he concealed checks to Cohen to disguise that they came as reimbursement for paying off Daniels to keep quiet about a sexual tryst to secure his 2016 presidential win.

The Republican front-runner in this year’s election on Tuesday launched what could be his last legally permitted insults against Cohen, calling the upcoming trial’s anticipated star witness “a convicted LIAR and FELON,” and writing that he was “death” for the case.

Cohen, a longtime Trump loyalist before turning on him when he was federally convicted for his role in the hush-money scheme in 2018, welcomed Merchan’s ruling, noting he’d “been under relentless assault from Donald’s MAGA supporters.”

But Cohen said he nevertheless wasn’t confident his former boss would abide by it.

“Knowing Donald as well as I do, he will seek to defy the gag order by employing others within his circle to do his bidding, regardless of consequence.”

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