Former President Donald Trump continued this week his controversial and widely condemned practice of publicly attacking the family members of judges overseeing his various trials.
Earlier in the week, Trump attacked the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over his porn star hush money trial set to begin on April 15 in New York City. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “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.”
Judge Merchan soon after imposed a gag order on Trump that restricted his ability to attack jurors, court staff, and potential witnesses – the order did not protect DA Alvin Bragg or the judge and his family. On Wednesday, Trump again took aim at the judges daughter, writing, “So, let me get this straight, the Judge’s daughter is allowed to post pictures of her ‘dream’ of putting me in jail, the Manhattan D.A. is able to say whatever lies about me he wants, the Judge can violate our Laws and Constitution at every turn, but I am not allowed to talk about the attacks against me, and the Lunatics trying to destroy my life, and prevent me from winning the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am dominating?”
This claim that the judge’s daughter posted a picture to social media of Trump “in jail” came from far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who was also behind Trump’s attacks on the wife of the judge in his civil fraud trial.
“Judge Merchan’s daughter Loren Merchan who I exposed for having an X profile pic of Donald Trump in a jail cell is the President of an elections company called @Authentic_HQ,” wrote Loomer on X Thursday, boasting of her “investigation” into Loren Merchan.
🚨🚨🚨
Judge Merchan’s daughter Loren Merchan who I exposed for having an X profile pic of Donald Trump in a jail
Cell is the President of an elections company called @Authentic_HQ.Here is the company X account bragging about going after Trump loyalist and Trump endorsed US… https://t.co/et2nNpsKd9
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 28, 2024
The Spectator’s Jacqueline Sweet reported Wednesday, however, “There’s only one problem: the account’s veracity is dubious at best, with a creation date of April 2023.”
“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,” Sweet reported. She explained that Loren Merchan appeared to actually change her user handle and make her Twitter account private last year, “weeks after Judge Merchan was announced as the judge who would preside over what is now likely to be Trump’s first criminal trial next month.”
The New York Office of Court Administration confirmed Sweet’s reporting, adding, “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. It is not linked to her email address, nor has she posted under that screenname since she deleted the account. Rather, it represents the reconstitution, last April, and manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned.”
Last year, Loomer’s claim that Judge Arthur Engoron’s wife was criticizing Trump on social media was also debunked – after Trump publicly criticized both Judge Engoron and his wife, leading to a flood of threats against them.
“Justice Engoron’s wife has not posted on social media about the former president. The posts are not hers. She does not have an X, formerly Twitter, account,” Al Baker, spokesperson for the New York Office of Court Administration, confirmed to CBS News in November.
Trump posted pictures from the account he said belonged to Judge Engoron’s wife, which were directly taken from Loomer’s social media. During his civil fraud trial, Trump repeatedly criticized the judge and the court staff, even sharing a link to the personal Instagram account of the court clerk, along with her name and photo.
Loomer has long been a highly controversial figure on the far-right and has promoted conspiracy theories denying everything from school shootings to predicting Nikki Haley controlled the weather before the Iowa caucuses.
Trump praised Loomer during his Iowa caucus victory speech in January, calling her “a very important person” and “fantastic.” Trump met with Loomer at his Bedminster country club over the summer and praised the work she does on his behalf, and reportedly even tried to hire her earlier in the year. Despite Trump’s endorsement, Loomer failed twice as a candidate for Congress in Trump’s Palm Beach district and then a north central Florida district, and is close friends with MAGA influencers like Roger Stone.
