Judge in Donald Trump hush money case expands scope of gag order on ex-president
The judge presiding over the Stormy Daniels hush money case on Monday expanded a gag order to prohibit Donald Trump from personally attacking his family members or those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after prosecutors asked the jurist to bring a stop to the former president’s “dangerous, violent and reprehensible” rhetoric.
State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan expanded the partial gag order he issued last week — that limited Trump’s public remarks about people connected to his criminal case in Manhattan — after Trump targeted the judge’s daughter, Loren, on Truth Social multiple times over several days, boosting a hoax rumor that she had been trashing him online and was profiting from his rulings at a digital agency that works on campaigns for Democrats.
Merchan rejected arguments by Trump’s lawyers objecting to an expansion of his gag order, which barred Trump from publicly commenting on witnesses and potential witnesses, jurors and potential jurors, prosecutorial staff and their relatives, along with court staff and their families, but not the judge, DA and their relatives.
The judge said Trump’s “pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose. It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game’ for Defendant’s vitriol.”
Merchan’s evening decision came after prosecutors asked him to expand the gag order. lawyer likely won’t be out until he is in his 90s.
In all, Murdaugh stole some $10 million from 27 victims over a 15-year period; $6 million is still missing, federal prosecutors charged.
It was, legal observers said, perhaps the stiffest sentence for a white-collar criminal defendant ever handed down in a South Carolina court. With the sentence, Murdaugh joins a pantheon of American fraudsters, whose names were used as comparisons in court Monday: Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff, Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos, crypto-scammer Sam Bankman-fried and Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling.
For Murdaugh to get out of prison in 40 years, his lawyers — Griffin, Dick Harpootlian and Phil Barber — must be successful in their appeals to overturn the consecutive life sentences in state prison Murdaugh is currently serving for killing his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of killing Maggie and Paul execution style at their remote Colleton County estate in 2021.
While those appeals are pending, most assume that Murdaugh’s appearance Monday will be his last in public for the foreseeable future.
DRIVER ARRESTED AFTER SUV BREACHES FBI GATE IN GEORGIA
ATLANTA — A driver was arrested Monday afternoon after his SUV rammed into a pop-up barrier just inside the gate at an FBI field office in Chamblee, Georgia, authorities said.
An orange Buick Encore with South Carolina plates crashed into the security barrier at the FBI’S state headquarters on Flowers Road just after midday, a spokesperson confirmed. The man, who has not been publicly identified, was arrested at the scene by Dekalb County police.
No one was injured during the incident, but the man was taken to the hospital for evaluation, FBI Atlanta assistant special agent Pete Ellis told reporters.
“Several of our special agents who were passing by apprehended him,” Ellis said about the driver. “His motives at this point are unknown.”
Investigators followed the FBI’S standard operating procedures and checked the car for explosives as a precaution, Ellis said. The SUV was towed away and the scene was cleared by 4 p.m.
Ellis said the man appeared to try to follow an FBI employee through the gate. Video from Newschopper 2 showed the Buick immobilized after it ran into a pop-up wedge barrier just inside the sliding metal gate. The impact was enough to set off the airbag and crush the front end of the vehicle, but the barrier prevented the SUV from intruding more than a few feet into the compound.
Helicopter footage of the aftermath showed an investigator wearing a protective bomb suit looking through the wrecked SUV, with armored vehicles parked in front of and behind it.
No additional information has been released. A Dekalb police spokeswoman said the FBI is leading the investigation and that she could not share further details.