Prosecutors in Manhattan suggested on Friday that Donald Trump

this week

had violated a gag order in his hush money criminal case

this week

by attacking the judge’s daughter and making false claims about her on social media.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to clarify or confirm the scope of the silence order, which he issued on Tuesday, and to order the former president and presumptive Republican nominee to immediately refrain from attacks on family members.

In a letter to Merchan, Assistant Dist. Atty. Joshua Steinglass argued that the ban on statements intended to hinder or harass court staff or their families takes the judge’s daughter out of Trump’s rhetoric. He said Trump should be punished for further violations.

Trump’s lawyers argue that the district attorney’s office is misinterpreting the order and that it does not ban

their client him

of commentary on Loren Merchan, a political consultant whose company has worked on campaigns

Trump’s

rival Joe Biden and other Democrats.

The Court cannot order President Trump to do anything that the gag order does not require, Trump’s attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles wrote. To clarify or confirm the meaning of the silence order in the manner in which the people would propose to expand it.

The trial, which includes allegations that Trump falsified payment records in a scheme to cover up negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign, is set to begin April 15. Trump denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty in 34 cases of falsifying company data.

In

are

writes on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that Loren Merchan makes money working on Get Trump and

Hi

falsely accused her of posting a photo on social media showing him behind bars.

A spokesperson for the New York state legal system said Trump’s claim was false and that the social media account Trump referred to no longer belongs.

sed

to Loren Merchan.

The bill on X

formerly known as Twitter,

is not associated with her email address nor has she posted under that screen name since she deleted the account. Rather, it represents the reconstruction, last April, and manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned, court spokesman Al Baker said.

In the same Truth Social posts, Trump complained that his gag order was illegal, un-American and unconstitutional. He said Judge Merchan wrongly sought to deprive me of my First Amendment right to speak out against the weaponization of law enforcement by Democratic rivals.

The silence order, which prosecutors requested, prohibits Trump from making public statements on his behalf or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about jurors or potential witnesses in the hush money trial, such as his attorney who became arch-enemy Michael Cohen and

adult filmmaker and

porn actor Stormy Daniels.

The order, which echoes that in Trump’s criminal election interference lawsuit in Washington, D.C., also prohibits

each

statements intended to hinder or harass court personnel

And

the prosecution team or their families. However, Trump is free to criticize Manhattan Dist. Atty. Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office continues

himTrump

but Steinglass wants

Bragg is his

family off limits

at

.

In his letter, Steinglass implored the judge to make it abundantly clear to Trump that the silence order protects his family, Bragg’s family and all relatives.

other

persons subject to the silence order. He urged Merchan to warn Trump “that his recent behavior is offensive and order him to stop it immediately.”

A violation of the silence order could result in Trump being held in contempt of court, found or even jailed.

Trump’s lawyers opposed it

each

such warnings, citing constitutional concerns about restrictions

their client’s Trump

speech

further

while campaigning for president and fighting criminal charges.

Sisak writes for the Associated Press.