Is Trump orchestrating a new criminal conspiracy?

In recent days, several high-profile Republican political figures have traveled to the Manhattan Criminal Court, where Donald Trump is on trial. Outside the courthouse, they addressed the media and attacked key witnesses, the jury, and even the judge's daughter. 

The comments by Trump's Republican allies are nearly identical to attacks that Trump has made previously in interviews and social media posts. But Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that, in so doing, Trump violated the gag order he imposed to preserve the integrity of the trial. Merchan has already fined Trump for violating the gag order 10 times and has warned that future violations could result in incarceration.

Merchan's order prohibits Trump from "directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses." The order also prohibits Trump from directing others to attack the jury, the court staff, or family members.

Asked on Tuesday if he directed the Republicans to speak about the trial on his behalf, Trump described them as his "surrogates" and praised them for "speaking very beautifully." Trump has also entered the courthouse flanked by his surrogates, effectively giving them his imprimatur. If Trump directed his surrogates to speak, their comments could constitute criminal contempt of the gag order by Trump. 

Trump’s attorneys challenged the legitimacy of the gag order, but the New York Supreme Court rejected his argument on Tuesday. A five-judge panel found that Judge Merchan appropriately balanced "the competing considerations of [Trump's] First Amendment rights to free expression and the effective functioning of the judicial, prosecutorial, and defense processes."

The red tie brigade

On Monday, Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) addressed the media in front of the courthouse. On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R), Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL), former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R), and Congressman Cory Mills (R-FL) did the same. Tuesday's group, in an apparent show of solidarity, wore Trump's signature blue suit and red tie. 

Many of Trump's surrogates appear to be speaking from a common script. 

Judge Merchan's daughter "has served as president of Authentic Campaigns, a firm that does digital campaign work like online fundraising, mobile messaging and web design." Authentic Campaigns works with Democratic candidates, and many are obviously critical of Trump's politics. Merchan's daughter's role in any specific fundraising appeal has not been established. 

Trump's lawyers attempted to disqualify Merchan from the case due to his daughter's political activity. Merchan sought an advisory opinion from New York's Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics. The Committee concluded that "the judge’s impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned based on the judge’s relative’s business and/or political activities," and Merchan declined to step aside. 

The gag order bars Trump from continuing to attack Merchan's daughter (although he is free to attack Merchan). But many of Trump's surrogates attacked Merchan's daughter over the last few days, using very similar language:

Donalds: "His daughter is raising money for Democrats. And all of the fundraising emails are about this trial that his daughter is using… This is a travesty of justice." 

Mills: "The judge's daughter herself is also fundraising off this for people like Adam Schiff and the Biden administration" 

Ramaswamy: "The real bookkeeping that we need an accounting of is Judge Merchan's own family member collecting millions of dollars as a Democratic operative using the existence of this trial as a fundraising ploy for Democrats." 

Johnson: "Among the atrocities here — the judge's own daughter is making millions of dollars doing online fundraising for Democrats." 

Vance: "The judge inside — his daughter is making millions of dollars running against Donald Trump, raising money for Donald Trump's political opponents." 

The similarity of the comments suggests an organized campaign. Attorney Jeff Jacobovitz, in an appearance on MSNBC, suggested that Merchan may hold a hearing over whether Trump has violated the gag order by directing his surrogates to make these attacks on his behalf. Jacobovitz noted that "if Trump is feeding information" to his allies, it would violate the gag order. 

Prosecutors could have difficulty, however, proving that these comments were given at Trump's direction. None of the Republican officials are subject to Merchan's order, so the only conduct at issue would be whatever direction Trump provided, if any, behind the scenes. 

Trump's acolytes are making a tough task a bit easier. Tuberville, in an appearance on Newsmax, admitted that he traveled to New York to help Trump "overcome this gag order." Turberville said that he and other Trump supporters were there to "represent" Trump and speak "for President Trump." Similarly, Vance acknowledged that he came to Manhattan specifically to say what Trump “is prevented from saying."

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