‘He’s like a mob boss’: Legal experts alarmed by Trump’s attacks on judges

Ex-president’s attempt to discredit charges with smear tactics weakens the judicial system, former judges say

Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with his legal team before the continuation of his civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court, in New York.

As Donald Trump faces 91 criminal charges including 17 for his multifaceted drive to overturn his 2020 election loss, and a high-stakes civil trial, he has launched a spate of ad hominem attacks on two judges overseeing trials, posing physical risks for the judiciary and weakening the US judicial system, say former judges and legal experts.

Rising concerns about Trump’s attacks on judges and prosecutors were underscored this month when a federal judge in Washington DC and a state judge in New York issued tailored gag orders to curb Trump’s public tirades.