‘Is There No Depth to Which You Will Not Descend?’ Weissmann Blasts Trump for Attacking Judge’s Daughter
Donald Trump singled out Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter by name on Thursday while complaining about the limited gag order the judge imposed on the former president.
Merchan is presiding over Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, set to begin on April 15. The former president is charged with falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to cover up extramarital affairs. He has pleaded not guilty.
As he has done in other cases, Trump has attacked the judge and others involved in his prosecution. That prompted Merchan to impose a limited gag order meant to prohibit Trump from issuing statements that harass court staff, the prosecution, and members of their families.
On Thursday, Trump name-checked Merchan’s daughter Loren Merchan as a “rabid Trump hater” and Democratic operative.
Former FBI General Counsel and ex-Mueller team investigator Andrew Weissmann appeared on MSNBC’s The ReidOut, where Joy Reid asked what if anything Judge Merchan can do.
“Andrew, I cease to be able to be surprised, except that Donald Trump is now literally making up a story about Judge Merchan’s daughter, posting about it, railing about it, naming her by name,” she said. “And there’s still nothing anyone can do to stop it?”
“It actually is something that could be stopped,” he replied. “The gag order could apply to both the judge and the judge’s family. And this is one where, as a matter of grace, the judges have not imposed the gag order as to themselves… And judges, I think, bend over backwards, but it will be interesting to see whether Judge Merchan does expand it.”
Weissmann concluded his response by saying Trump’s behavior should not be normalized and wondering aloud about the levels to which the former president is willing to stoop:
It is true that you see this and you think, it’s just Donald Trump, it’s just Donald Trump. More of the same. It is really important not to just normalize this. I mean, so many people talk about sort of predicting, what would a Trump 2.0 administration be. And should we really think he’s going to be a dictator, and what will happen?
And my response to that is, you can look right now at what he’s doing and saying. And for people who are fair-minded, I would say, “What do you say about somebody who attacks the daughter of a judge? I mean, is there no depth to which you will not descend? It is so important to not get inured to what this is.
Watch above via MSNBC.
