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Donald Trump and his defense attorneys have gone to great lengths of late to delay the criminal cases surrounding the former president. The goal isn’t a secret: The Republican and his team, fearing possible convictions, want to push off trial dates until after Election Day 2024.
The strategy might very well work in response to some of the pending indictments, but not all. This week, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan announced that jury section in Trump’s hush-money-to-a-porn-star case will begin on April 15. It’s possible there will be another delay, but the jurist gave every indication that the proceedings would advance in a few weeks.
It was against this backdrop that the suspected felon, just one day later, thought it’d be a good idea to go after the judge in the case — and his daughter. CNBC reported:
Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the judge in his criminal hush money case — and verbally took aim at the judge’s daughter — after the ex-president’s attorneys failed to delay the case from heading to trial next month. Trump, in a Truth Social post, called New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan “a very distinguished looking man” who “is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater.”
In the same missive, the presumptive GOP nominee added, “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.”
(Update: Trump used his social media platform this morning to publish a couple of additional items about the judge's daughter.)
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination. Last year, the defendant’s lawyers also urged Merchan to recuse himself from the case and referenced the judge’s daughter’s work as a political consultant at a firm with Democratic clients.
It didn’t work at the time — Merchan explained that his ability to remain impartial remains intact — and it’s unlikely that Trump’s latest online tantrum will have its intended effect.
But that doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant.
For one thing, as NBC News reported last year, the judge and his family have already been the target of multiple threats, and the former president’s latest offensive is likely to make matters worse.
For another, it’s striking just how frequently Trump goes after his perceived foes’ family members. Late last year, for example, in the Trump Organization’s fraud case, the Republican targeted Judge Arthur Engoron’s wife. Before that, the presumptive GOP nominee not only labeled special counsel Jack Smith a “terrorist,” he also lashed out at the prosecutor’s wife and sister-in-law.
Now, Merchan’s daughter has apparently joined the target list. The underlying message is hardly subtle: In pursuit of his own interests, Trump will take whatever steps he deems necessary, even if that means going after the family members of those who might hold him accountable for his actions.