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The Manhattan District Attorney's Office ridiculed Donald Trump's ongoing fight to have the judge recused from the former president's hush money case in New York.
In a court filing Tuesday, prosecutors for District Attorney Alvin Bragg again opposed a request from Trump's defense team seeking to remove Judge Juan Merchan from the case over accusations of conflicts of interest. Trump has centered his argument for recusal on Merchan's daughter, who works at a Democratic political consulting firm.
Prosecutors wrote on Tuesday that Trump "has identified no changed circumstances that warrant revisiting" a New York judicial ethics board review on the former president's request in August 2023, during which the state advisory committee determined that Merchan's impartiality could not "reasonably be questioned" based on his daughter's political interests.
The Context
Trump has sought for months to have Merchan removed from the case brought against him by Bragg, which accuses the former president of filing fraudulent financial records to conceal hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and others during the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 criminal counts included in Bragg's indictment.
The former president's lawyers asked Merchan in May 2023 to recuse himself from the case, pointing to a $15 donation the judge made to President Joe Biden's campaign in 2020 and conflicts with Merchan's daughter, Loren, who the defense claimed stood to benefit financially from the outcome of the case.
Merchan rejected all of Trump's arguments in an order three months later, which relied in part on guidance that the New York Judicial Ethics Committee had provided on the matter.
What We Know
Trump again requested to have Merchan removed from his hush money case in a filing on Monday, which again argued that Loren Merchan's firm would benefit financially depending on how the judge ruled in the case.
Bragg's office laid out three reasons why Trump's latest request should be denied in their filing Tuesday, including pulling apart the former president's claim that Loren Merchan's firm, Authentic, has "received millions of dollars" from entities associated with Trump's "political rivals."
"[Trump]'s own careful wording reveals the multiple attenuated factual leaps here that undercut any direct connection between Authentic and this case: Authentic has received money from 'entities'; those entities are 'associated with' politicians; and those politicians have raised money based on this case," Manhattan prosecutors wrote.
"This daisy chain of innuendos is a far cry from evidence that this Court has 'a direct, personal, substantial or pecuniary interest in reaching a particular conclusion,'" they added.
Views
Trump's legal team argued in its filing on Monday that it could "no longer be ignored" that the "commercial interests" of Loren Merchan's political firm "are benefited by developments of this case."
"Under these circumstances, Your Honor has an interest in this case that warrants recusal, there is an unacceptable risk that the Court's family relationships will influence judicial conduct, and the Court's impartiality 'might reasonably be questioned,'" Trump lawyer Todd Blanche wrote in the letter addressed to Merchan.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign Tuesday for further comment.
Trump's legal team also filed a motion on Monday opposing Bragg's office request to "clarify" a gag order Merchan placed against the former president last week, which followed hours after Trump took to Truth Social to attack Loren Merchan. The 13-page filing defended Trump's attacks on the judge's daughter, claiming that such posts are a "criticism of the judge's decision to not recuse himself from the case."
"President Trump's social media posts amplified defense arguments regarding the need for recusal that have been, and will continue to be, the subject of motion practice," Monday's filing read.
The former president has made several posts attacking Merchan's daughter since the order was issued, and the judge ultimately ruled later in the day Monday to expand his original gag order to declare his family members off-limits. Trump's campaign raged at the expanded limitations as an attack against the former president's "core political speech" and called it "unconstitutional."
"Judge Merchan's unconstitutional Gag Order prevents President Trump—the leading candidate for President of the United States—from engaging in core political speech, which is entitled to the highest level of protection under the First Amendment," Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, said in a statement.
"Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, at the direction of Crooked Joe Biden, chose to indict President Trump in the middle of campaign season in a politically motivated attempt to derail his candidacy, and the First Amendment allows President Trump to speak out against this unconstitutional tyranny," he added.
What's Next?
Jury selection for Trump's hush money case is scheduled to begin on April 15 in Manhattan. Legal experts previously told Newsweek that the trial could be over as soon as May, potentially opening up the chance for Trump to face at least one verdict in his four criminal indictments before he appears on the presidential ballot in November.
Update 4/2/24, 6:35 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more