A few days before the start of his hidden criminal trial, former president Donald Trump he insists on a new judge, revisiting his past grievances with the current judge.
Trump is making a renewed effort for justice Juan Mercan withdrew from the secret trial, citing digital marketing work done for Democrats by the judge’s daughter.
This trial, set to begin April 15, marks Trump’s first foray into criminal prosecution, with charges centering on a payment he made in 2016 to silence the adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s legal team argued that Merchan’s daughter Loren, who works for the digital agency Authentic, represents a conflict of interest because her company counts the president Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris among its customers. The team argues that the company’s representation directly profits from opposition to Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying company records related to the payment, the Associated Press reported.
The recusal motion, a 37-page document submitted by Trump’s lawyers, highlights potential irregularities due to the judge’s family ties and political use of the case in fundraising efforts by Democrats.
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Despite an earlier rejection of a similar recusal motion last year — which also pointed to small donations made by Merchan to Democratic campaigns — Trump’s lawyers are again pressing the issue.
They suggested that regardless of legal mandates, the judge’s involvement could still represent an “appearance of impropriety” that justifies recusal for judicial integrity.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Merchan blocked Trump’s legal team from forcing NBC to provide her with material related to its recent documentary regarding Daniels, a key prosecution witness.
He considered the defense subpoena “the epitome of a fishing expedition” and found it did not meet the legal threshold for authorizing a media outlet to disclose its records and documents.
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This content was partially produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.