Amid delays and uncertainty over Donald Trump’s classified documents case, a strained dynamic between his prosecutor and his judge has intensified.
Former President Trump on Friday demanded his hush money judge recuse himself from the upcoming trial, now less than two weeks away, over his daughter’s firm’s digital marketing work for prominent Democrats.
Last summer, Justice Juan Merchan rejected an earlier recusal motion that also cited his daughter’s employment.
Trump’s second attempt comes after Merchan limited Trump’s public statements about the judge’s daughter and others. The judge has also grown perturbed by Trump’s last-minute tactics to stave off the April 15 start date, which is slated to be the former president’s first criminal trial.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Merchan’s daughter, Loren, has a “direct financial interest” in the former president’s case, noting that two clients of her firm, the progressive digital agency Authentic, are President Biden and Vice President Harris.
“Personal political views may not be a basis for recusal. But profiting from the promotion of a political agenda that is hostile to President Trump, and has included fundraising solicitations based on this case, must be,” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a 37-page motion. “Accordingly, President Trump respectfully requests that the Court recuse itself.”
In his role overseeing the case, Merchan wields “enormous power” to “incarcerate and incapacitate” Trump – the “chief political rival” to several Authentic clients – creating a conflict of interest requiring recusal, the lawyers argued.
In less than two weeks, jury selection is scheduled to begin to determine whether Trump falsified business records to criminally cover up a 2016 hush money payment to a porn actress who alleged a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump, who denies the affair, pleaded not guilty.
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Last year, Merchan rejected Trump’s original recusal motion that cited his daughter’s employment and $35 in donations the judge made during the 2020 campaign cycle to the Biden campaign and two liberal-leaning groups.
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#BREAKING: Former President Trump demanded his hush money judge recuse himself from the upcoming trial, now less than two weeks away, over his daughter’s firm’s digital marketing work for prominent Democrats. https://t.co/6hA31yragw
— The Hill (@thehill) April 5, 2024
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