Former President Donald Trump might be breaking New York's criminal stalking laws with his repeated attacks on the daughter of the judge overseeing his criminal hush money case, a former Manhattan prosecutor said Friday.
Catherine Christian, a onetime assistant district attorney, appeared on MSNBC to discuss the legal implications of Trump's social media campaign against Justice Juan Merchan's daughter.
"In New York, it is a crime when a person intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, engages in conduct at a person and they know that conduct is likely to cause that person reasonable fear for their safety," Christian said.
"That's called stalking in the fourth degree."
Christian's analysis arrived just one day after a federal judge made the rare decision to take to the airwaves and warn about the danger Trump's social media threats pose.
While Trump has not violated Merchan's gag order, which does not bar the former president from speaking out against the judge or his family, Christian — and a number of prosecutors and federal judges — say they're deeply concerned about the consequences.
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"Donald Trump named her," said Christian. "He has targeted her four times publicly. ... I'm putting it out there for any law enforcement."
Merchan's daughter may find herself in a more precarious situation because, as an adult woman, she presumably does not live with her father and will not benefit from protections the court places on his home, noted Christian's co-panelist, MSNBC Lisa Rubin.
Christian noted Merchan's daughter has no connection to the charges, levied by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, that Trump falsified business records ahead of the 2016 presidential election to hide hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
"This young woman, who is the daughter of the judge, has nothing do with this case," Christian said. "She's not the decision maker. I'm sure other judges who have high-profile cases are also scared that something like this might happen to them and their family members."
The risk is a substantial one, considering Trump's anti-court staff messaging saw federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, overseeing his Washington D.C. election interference case, receive a racist death threat that ended in the accused caller's arrest.
That's likely why Judge Reggie Watson chose to speak out on CNN about the violent threats and urge "people in positions of authority to be very circumspect," Christian argued.
"It shows how horrendous this behavior is," Christian said. "It's very, very dangerous, particularly because this is a person, Donald Trump, who has millions of followers who read his social media postings."
When host Ryan Nobles asked Rubin to explain why Merchan hadn't simply covered himself in the gag order levied against Trump, the legal analyst explained it was a question of decorum.
"It's considered unseemly," Rubin said. "They are elected officials. They take that risk."
Nobles closed the interview with a comment on that risk.
"It's not as though they are getting rich, they could be making more money probably in private law firms," Nobles said. "It's a lot that we ask of them."
