Donald Trump demands new judge ahead of hush money criminal trial

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded the appointment of a new judge just days before a hush-money criminal trial is set to begin, reiterating longstanding grievances with current judges in a bid to disrupt and delay the case at the last minute.

Trump’s lawyers echoed his recent complaints on social media, urging Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan to withdraw from the case, claiming bias and a conflict of interest because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant . Last August, a judge denied a similar request.

In court documents unsealed on Friday, Trump’s lawyers said it was “inappropriate for Merchant to preside over these proceedings and that Ms. Merchant gained from the case by interfering with Trump’s campaign as the Republican presidential nominee.” financial and reputational benefits.”

The trial is scheduled to begin on April 15. It is the first of four criminal cases Trump plans to go to trial and will be the first criminal trial of a former president.

McCann did not immediately rule. The decision is entirely up to him. If he withdraws, the trial schedule will be thrown into chaos, leaving Trump with a long-sought delay while a new judge moves up the pace.

Messages seeking comment were left with court spokesperson and Merchant’s daughter, Loren Merchant. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it believed Merchant had no reason to resign.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in a letter to the judge that the defense’s claim that Loren Merchan profited from her father’s decisions required “multiple weakening leaps of fact that undermined her case.” any direct connection between the company and this case.”

“This stream of insinuations is far from the evidence” suggesting Judge Merchant had 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 $70 million in payments from Democratic candidates and causes since she helped found it in 2018, records show.

The firm’s past clients include President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Senate Majority Political Action Committee (PAC), a big-money political committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer . Senate Majority PAC has paid $15.2 million to Authentic Campaigns, according to campaign finance disclosures.

In another development on Friday, Silent Investigation blocked Trump’s lawyers from forcing NBC to provide them with materials related to his recent documentary about porn actor Stormy Daniels, a key prosecution witness. He ruled that the defense’s subpoena was “the very definition of a fishing expedition” and did not meet the news organization’s legal duty to provide its notes and documents.

Merchant on Wednesday rejected a request from the presumptive Republican nominee to delay the trial until the Supreme Court rules on his claim of presidential immunity in a separate criminal case. The judge has yet to rule on another defense delay request – this one claiming he would not get a fair trial due to “prejudicial media coverage.”

The hush-money case centers on Trump’s falsification of company records to conceal the nature of payments to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during the 2016 campaign. On top of that, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to suppress claims that she had extramarital sex with Trump years ago.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He denied having sex with Daniels. His lawyers argued that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

Trump last week posted on his Truth Social platform attacking the judge and his daughter, signaling a renewed push by his lawyers to withdraw Silk from the case.

Trump has suggested, without evidence, that Merchin’s rulings — including his decision to impose a gag order on Trump — were influenced by his daughter’s consulting interests. He falsely claimed she posted a photo of him in jail on social media. Trump’s attacks on Lauren Merchant led a judge to expand a gag order barring him from speaking publicly about his family.

“The judge must recuse himself immediately and correct the mistake of not doing so last year,” Trump wrote on March 27. “If a biased and contradictory judge is allowed to continue hearing this false ‘case,’ it will be another one of our It’s a sad example of the country becoming a banana republic instead of the America we once knew and loved.”

Trump similarly pressured a judge to recuse herself from an election interference case in Washington, D.C., claiming her past comments about him called into question her ability to be impartial. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chatkan said she had no reason to resign.

Last year, Merchant’s daughter figured prominently in the defense’s calls for him to recuse himself. They also took advantage of several small donations the judge made to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign. They totaled $35, $15 of which went to Biden.

Merchant denied the request, writing last August that a state court ethics panel found that Loren Merchant’s work had no impact on his impartiality. The judge said he was convinced of his “ability to be fair and impartial” and said Trump’s lawyers had “failed to demonstrate that there were appropriate or even realistic grounds for recusal, let alone that they were based on those grounds.”

Trump’s lawyers believe that has changed now that Trump is facing off again with President Joe Biden and that Democrats – including clients of Loren Merchant – are trying to exploit Trump’s legal troubles. Via fundraising emails surrounding hush-money case developments.

“It 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.,” Branch and Nechels wrote, referring to Republican fundraising platforms and pro-Trump fundraising committees.

In seeking Murchin’s recusal, Trump’s lawyers also questioned his decision to give an interview to The Associated Press last month, suggesting he may have violated judicial conduct rules and questioning his use of a court spokesman last week. Denies Trump’s claims about her. Posted a photo of Trump in jail.

In the interview, Merchant told The Associated Press that he and his staff were working to prepare for the historic first trial of the former president, saying: “There is no agenda here. We want the law to be followed. We want justice to be served.”