Donald Trump Attacks Daughter of Judge in Stormy Daniels Case

Former President Donald Trump attacked the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.

Merchan is tasked with overseeing the trial focusing on the hush money payment Trump allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in 2023 with falsifying business documents, accusing him of breaking the law by making a payment to Daniels to prevent her from speaking publicly about her claims of having an affair with him.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied having an affair with Daniels.

On Tuesday, the former president took to his social media platform to share his latest attack against the judge and also targeted Merchan's daughter.

"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," he wrote. "In other words, he hates me!

"His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam "Shifty" Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem)Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden."

In a separate post, Trump argued that Merchan should recuse himself from the case, arguing that the trial should be moved to the more-conservative New York City borough of Staten Island.

"JUDGE MERCHAN SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF, HE CANNOT GIVE ME A FAIR TRIAL. Likewise, for the sake of fairness, this 'Political Opponent' trial should take place in Staten Island, with a new and unbiased judge. The trial should not be allowed to start in the middle of my campaign for President," Trump wrote.

The attack echoes a post Trump made in April 2023 in which he raised concerns about Merchan's daughter's political connections. In that post, he accused Merchan of being a "highly partisan judge" with a family of "well known Trump haters."

His post drew criticism on X, formerly Twitter.

"Trump attacks the daughter of the judge in his Manhattan criminal case because he (1) can't help being despicable, (2) wants a gag order for political reasons, and/or (3) wants to be able to say, if convicted, that the judge mistreated him due to his attacks," posted Eric Columbus, who served as special litigation counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives' Office of General Counsel.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance posted: "Trump puts a target not only Judge Merchan in the criminal case in Manhattan but on his daughter. This is a rank effort at intimidating the judge by threatening his family. It merits a gag order but also serious pushback from GOP leadership--which we know won't come."

"Anyone else would be locked up," posted businesswoman Lea Black, a former star of The Real Housewives of Miami.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign and the Merchan via the New York court public information office by email for comment.

The post comes just one day after Merchan set an April 15 start date in Trump's trial, which is now slated to be Trump's first criminal trial after weeks of delays. Legal experts said the trial may last only two to three weeks and that he is unlikely to face a prison sentence if convicted.

Trump said during a press conference on Monday that he plans to take the stand in the trial. He said he plans to appeal the start date and criticized prosecutors for bringing the case in the middle of the campaign.

"I would have no problem testifying," Trump said. "I didn't do anything wrong."