In a recent development in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney's office has condemned his verbal attacks against the daughter of the judge overseeing the trial. The DA's office is now urging the judge to expand or clarify the existing gag order to shield her from further harm.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, representing the district attorney Alvin Bragg, argued in court papers filed on Monday that Trump's rhetoric poses a threat to the integrity of the proceedings and aims to intimidate witnesses and trial participants, including the judge himself. Last week, Judge Juan Merchan issued a gag order on Trump, limiting his attacks against court staff, line prosecutors, jurors, and witnesses as his trial, scheduled for April 15th, approaches.

However, Trump has continued to post about the judge's daughter on his Truth Social platform, even after the judge refused to delay the trial. This has led to a dispute over the boundaries of the gag order and whether it applies to her. The district attorney's office believes the judge should clarify or expand the language to explicitly include protection for both the judge's and the district attorney's families.

Trump's legal team, represented by Todd Blanche, argued against any change to the gag order, stating that it would further infringe upon Trump's First Amendment rights. Blanche maintained that Trump has not violated the current gag order and suggested that expanding it would compound the alleged constitutional violations.

Prosecutors pointed to more than seven posts on Truth Social in the past week where Trump targeted the judge's daughter due to her employment at a progressive digital agency associated with the Biden-Harris campaign. They emphasized that family members of trial participants should be strictly off-limits and accused Trump of attempting to instigate fear and harm.

The district attorney's office urged the judge to make it unequivocally clear that Trump is prohibited from making public statements about the families of the court, the district attorney, and all other individuals mentioned in the order. Previously, the judge rejected Trump's demand for recusal based on his daughter's employment, following guidance from a state ethics advisory committee.

In response, Trump's lawyers expressed their intention to file a new recusal motion based on "changed circumstances and newly discovered evidence." Additionally, prosecutors requested the judge to warn Trump that any continued harassing or disruptive conduct may result in him losing access to the names of his trial jurors. Currently, Trump can access their names, while only his attorneys have access to their addresses.

The hush money case involves 34 counts of falsifying business records against Trump, related to his alleged efforts to cover up a payment made prior to the 2016 presidential election to a porn star who claimed to have had an extramarital affair with him. Trump, who denies the affair, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

As the legal battle continues, the district attorney's office is determined to ensure the protection of all involved and maintain the integrity of the upcoming trial. The judge's decision on the request to expand the gag order remains pending.