Former U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal trial is set to begin, rehashing longstanding grievances with the current judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case.
Trump's lawyers 鈥 echoing his recent social media complaints 鈥 urged Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan to step aside from the case, alleging bias and a conflict of interest because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant. The judge rejected a similar request last August.
In court papers made public Friday, Trump鈥檚 lawyers said it is improper for Merchan "to preside over these proceedings while Ms. Merchan benefits, financially and reputationally, from the manner in which this case is interfering鈥 with Trump鈥檚 campaign as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The trial is scheduled to begin April 15. It is the first of Trump's four criminal cases scheduled to go to trial and would be the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.
Merchan didn't immediately rule. The decision is entirely up to him. If he were to exit, it would throw the trial schedule into disarray, giving Trump a long-sought postponement while a new judge gets up to speed.
Messages seeking comment were left for a court spokesperson and for Merchan's daughter, Loren Merchan. The Manhattan district attorney鈥檚 office said it sees no reason for Merchan to step aside.
The defence's claims that Loren Merchan is profiting from her father's decisions require 鈥渕ultiple attenuated factual leaps here that undercut any direct connection鈥 between her firm and this case, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in a letter to the judge.
鈥淭his daisy chain of innuendos is a far cry from evidence鈥 that Judge Merchan has a direct, personal or financial interest in reaching a particular conclusion, Colangelo wrote.
Loren Merchan is president of Authentic Campaigns, which has collected at least US$70 million in payments from Democratic candidates and causes since she helped found the company in 2018, records show.
The firm鈥檚 past clients include President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority PAC, a big-spending political committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Senate Majority PAC has paid Authentic Campaigns US$15.2 million, according to campaign finance disclosures.
In a separate development Friday, Merchan blocked Trump鈥檚 lawyers from forcing NBC to provide them with materials related to its recent documentary about porn actor Stormy Daniels, a key prosecution witness. He ruled that the defence's subpoena was 鈥渢he very definition of a fishing expedition鈥 and didn't meet a legal burden for requiring a news organization to provide access to its notes and documents.
On Wednesday, Merchan rejected the presumptive Republican nominee鈥檚 request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases. The judge has yet to rule on another defence delay request 鈥 this one alleging he won't get a fair trial because of 鈥減rejudicial media coverage.鈥
The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company鈥檚 records to hide the nature of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign. Among other things, Cohen paid Daniels US$130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.
Trump foreshadowed his lawyers' renewed push to have Merchan exit the case with posts assailing the judge and his daughter last week on his Truth Social platform.
Trump suggested, without evidence, that Merchan鈥檚 rulings 鈥 including his decision to impose a gag order on Trump 鈥 were swayed by his daughter鈥檚 consulting interests. He wrongly claimed that she had posted a social media photo showing him behind bars. Trump's attacks on Lauren Merchan led the judge to expand the gag order to prohibit him from making public statements about his family.
鈥淭he Judge has to recuse himself immediately, and right the wrong committed by not doing so last year,鈥 Trump wrote on March 27. 鈥淚f the Biased and Conflicted Judge is allowed to stay on this Sham 鈥楥ase,鈥 it will be another sad example of our Country becoming a Banana Republic, not the America we used to know and love.鈥
Trump similarly pressed the judge in his Washington, D.C., election interference case to recuse herself, claiming her past comments about him called into question her ability to be fair. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said there was no reason for her to step aside.
Merchan's daughter featured prominently in the defence's calls for his recusal last year. They also seized on several small donations the judge made totaling to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign. They totaled US$35, including US$15 to Biden.
Merchan rejected that request, writing last August that a state court ethics panel had found that Loren Merchan鈥檚 work had no bearing on his impartiality. The judge said he was certain of his 鈥渁bility to be fair and impartial鈥 and said Trump鈥檚 lawyers had 鈥渇ailed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds.鈥
Trump鈥檚 lawyers contend circumstances have now changed, with Trump locked in a rematch against President Joe Biden, and Democrats 鈥 including clients of Loren Merchan鈥檚 firm 鈥 seeking to capitalize on Trump's legal troubles with fundraising emails framed around developments in the hush-money case.
鈥淚t would be completely unacceptable to most New Yorkers if the judge presiding over these proceedings had an adult child who worked at WinRed or MAGA Inc.,鈥 Blanche and Necheles wrote, referring to a Republican fundraising platform and a pro-Trump fundraising committee.
In seeking Merchan's recusal, Trump's lawyers also took issue with his decision to give an interview to The Associated Press last month, suggesting he may have violated judicial conduct rules, and they questioned his use of a court spokesperson last week to deny Trump's claims that she had posted the image of Trump in jail.
In the interview, Merchan told the AP that he and his staff were working diligently to prepare for the historic first trial of a former president, saying: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no agenda here. We want to follow the law. We want justice to be done.鈥
Associated Press reporters Brian Slodysko and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.
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