A sitting federal judge took the extraordinary step of warning of tyranny after Donald Trump’s attacks on Judge Juan Merchan and his family overseeing the criminal hush money case.
“It’s very disconcerting to have someone making comments about a judge, and it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they’re directed at one’s family,” US District Judge Reggie Walton told Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s The Source. “We do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law and we believe in the rule of law, and the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm.”
This might be a good time to remind everyone that throughout his career, Walton has been appointed by Republican presidents including George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan.
“I think it’s important in order to preserve our democracy that we maintain the rule of law,” Walton stressed. “And the rule of law can only be maintained if we have independent judicial officers who are able to do their job and ensure that the laws are, in fact, enforced and that the laws are applied equally to everybody who appears in our courthouse.”
Walton explained the importance of speaking out, warning that without a viable court system, we have tyranny.
“I think it’s important that, as judges, we speak out and say things in reference to things that conceivably are going to impact on the process, because if we don’t have a viable court system that’s able to function efficiently, then we have tyranny. And I don’t think that would be good for the future of our country, and the future of democracy in our country.”
Donald Trump is barred from publicly targeting witnesses, prosecutors, jurors and court staff in the hush money case, but that didn’t stop him from targeting the Judge and his daughter.
You know Donald Trump. He’s the guy who will target someone’s kid with stochastic terrorism if he thinks it will buy him something he wants. And so it is that the ex-president has been attacking Judge Merchan’s daughter.
Trump was told by the limited gag order in the Manhattan DA’s criminal case against him that he can’t talk about the DA’s staff, court staff, witnesses, jurors, or the lawyers and their staff. But he *can* talk about the DA and the Judge.
And the Judge’s family.
“Former President Donald Trump lashed out against Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter, ***** Merchan, once again Thursday—an attack that comes just weeks ahead of Trump’s first criminal trial and two days after the judge issued a limited gag order in the case,” Forbes reported (edited original quote to remove daughter’s name).
Forbes continued, “Trump furthered his scrutiny of Merchan’s daughter—identifying her by name and saying she is a “Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me,” though the former president didn’t provide evidence to back up his claim.”
“The former president claimed Merchan’s daughter works for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, extending a criticism he made on Truth Social earlier this week noting she worked as an executive at a progressive political consulting firm, Authentic Campaigns, which Biden is a client of, according to the firm’s website.”
Joyce Alene pointed out, “When Trump paints a bullseye on a Judge’s back, his followers respond. He knows this. His followers have demonstrated their propensity towards threats and even violence over and over again, as when a Texas woman threatened to kill Judge Chutkan.”
5/When Trump paints a bullseye on a Judge’s back, his followers respond. He knows this. His followers have demonstrated their propensity towards threats and even violence over and over again, as when a Texas woman threatened to kill Judge Chutkan. https://t.co/cgRGd4QU1M
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) March 29, 2024
Lest anyone think this is hyperbole (which would require forgetting January 6th, the caravan lies, and so much more), recall that Republican Senator Mitt Romney was paying $5,000 a day to protect his family from his party’s own voters after the insurrection. Additionally:
“Other Republicans were warned off of voting to convict Trump in the second impeachment with echoes of terrorism in effect: ‘Think of your personal safety, said another. Think of your children.’”
THINK OF YOUR CHILDREN. This is the world in which Republicans are willing to operate, that they cede power to this dangerous, anti-American inciter of a terrorist attack against the U.S. government, because they are AFRAID.
These elected Republicans are not heroes; rather, they are the worst kinds of cowards — people who knowingly allow this man to continue to target other people’s family so long as their own is safe.
If Donald Trump isn’t specifically prohibited from aiming his violent supporters at someone, he will do it. This is the man the Republican Party has ceded all control and power to. They are fine unleashing him on the U.S. and her people, so long as they themselves aren’t targeted.
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