Juan Merchan Under Pressure as Trump Supporters Focus on Daughter's Ties

By

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page
US News Reporter
Trust Project Icon Newsweek Is A Trust Project Member

🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.

As the Manhattan grand jury's case against Donald Trump continues in the following weeks and months, the question of whether Juan Merchan's daughter's work history compromises the judge's stance towards the former president is likely to continue hovering over the legal process.

Merchan, the judge overseeing the case that had Trump indicted over the payment of hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign, has a 34-year-old daughter, Loren, who has a history of working for Democratic politicians including Vice President Kamala Harris and California Representative Adam Schiff.

She is currently president of consulting firm Authentic Campaigns, which, along with Harris and Schiff, counts the Biden-Harris campaign and California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom as clients.

Loren Merchan's ties with some of Trump's political rivals were brought up by the former president and his sons, who lashed out against the connection they say the official overseeing Trump's case has with the Democratic Party.

Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump gives a speech at his Mar-a-Lago club on April 4, 2023, following his arrest and arraignment earlier that day in New York City. Trump and his family have accused the judge... Joe Raedle/Getty Images

During his speech at Mar-A-Lago in Florida on Tuesday evening, which followed the former president's arraignment in New York earlier in the day, Trump referred to Merchan as "a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign."

On Tuesday, Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records linked to the $130,000 payment of hush money to Daniels, who had said she had an affair with Trump a decade earlier, during the 2016 presidential campaign. The former president has denied any wrongdoing and the affair itself, calling the case against him a political "witch hunt."

Earlier on the day of the arraignment, Trump's sons had posted similar accusations against Merchan's family on social media. Eric Trump alleged that Loren Merchan's employment history proved that President Joe Biden is using the case to suffocate Trump's influence ahead of the 2024 presidential election, tweeting: "It is all pre-arranged. This corruption is on a different level."

Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: "Seems relevant... yet another connection in this hand picked democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks."

It's not yet clear if mounting pressure will eventually force the New York County Supreme Court justice to address the issue and potentially recuse himself.

"The judge himself will decide whether he needs to recuse himself," Gene Rossi, a lawyer and shareholder at Carlton Fields with nearly three decades of criminal and civil litigation experience at the U.S. Department of Justice, told Newsweek. "He has 'broad discretion' on this issue. The daughter's employment by Democrats is an insufficient basis for recusal."

Last year, Merchan presided over a five-week tax-fraud trial that led to the conviction of the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. At the time, the Trump Organization's lawyer argued that the charges against Weisselberg were politically motivated, which the New York judge denied.

According to Rossi, the way Merchan handled the 2022 case indicates that the judge will treat Trump fairly in the Manhattan grand jury case.

"Based on the Judge's handling of the Trump Organization trial, Trump will get a fair trial," Rossi said.

It's not the first time that a U.S. judge's family connections are closely scrutinized and condemned. Complaints over allegedly compromising family ties were brought up against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife Virginia Thomas, a well-known conservative activist, attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

In November 2020, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas reportedly emailed Wisconsin legislators asking them to reverse Trump's loss in the state. Clarence Thomas has so far resisted pressure and calls to leave the court because of his wife's alleged actions.

Newsweek reached out to the New York state court system's press office, the White House, and Gavin Newsom's team via email and Adam Schiff's team by phone for comment.

Request Reprint & Licensing Submit Correction View Editorial & AI Guidelines

Top stories

About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more