Former President Trump asked on Friday that the judge overseeing his hush money trial, which is less than two weeks away, step down due to his daughter's firm doing 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 wrote in a 37-page motion that
less than two weeks from now, jury selection is set to begin to decide whether Trump falsified business records to cover up a 2016 hush money payment to a porn actress who claimed a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump, who denies the affair, pleaded not guilty.
Since being indicted roughly a year ago, Trump and his legal team have repeatedly targeted Loren Merchan’s employment at Authentic, a progressive digital agency that has included the Biden-Harris campaign and other prominent Democrats as clients.
The former president’s lawyers highlighted that clients like Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is running to represent California in the Senate, have used language in their digital marketing explicitly fundraising off of Trump’s legal troubles.
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.
The judge said he had received guidance from a state ethics advisory committee that he didn’t need to step aside.
On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office stated that there were “no changed circumstances” that warrant revisiting Merchan’s refusal.
