Former President Donald Trump persisted this week in his controversial practice of publicly attacking the family members of judges overseeing his various trials.
Earlier, Trump targeted the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, overseeing his porn star hush money trial. He wrote on Truth Social, “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.”
Following this, Judge Merchan imposed a gag order restricting Trump’s attacks, which did not extend to DA Alvin Bragg or the judge’s family. Trump continued his assault on the judge’s daughter, stating, “So, let me get this straight, the Judge’s daughter is allowed to post pictures of her ‘dream’ of putting me in jail…”
The claim that the judge’s daughter posted a picture of Trump “in jail” came from far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who also targeted the judge’s wife in his civil fraud trial. Loomer boasted about her “investigation” into Loren Merchan.
However, The Spectator’s Jacqueline Sweet reported, “There’s only one problem: the account’s veracity is dubious at best, with a creation date of April 2023.”
Sweet explained, “Analysis of the Twitter ID associated with the account shows that Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter Loren’s known Twitter account, that she has used since 2016, had its name changed and was set private at some point last spring.”
The New York Office of Court Administration confirmed, “The X, formerly Twitter, account being attributed to Judge Merchan’s daughter no longer belongs to her since she deleted it approximately a year ago.”
Last year, Loomer’s claim about Judge Arthur Engoron’s wife was debunked after Trump publicly attacked them both. Al Baker confirmed, “Justice Engoron’s wife has not sent social media posts regarding the former president.”
Trump shared images from the account he claimed belonged to Judge Engoron’s wife, sourced from Loomer’s social media. During his civil fraud trial, Trump repeatedly attacked the judge and court staff.
Loomer has long been controversial on the far-right, pushing conspiracy theories. Trump praised her during his Iowa caucus victory speech, and reportedly attempted to hire her. Loomer failed as a congressional candidate despite Trump’s endorsement, and is close friends with MAGA influencers like Roger Stone.
