Donald Trump’s lawyers are again seeking to have Judge Juan Merchan removed from overseeing the New York hush money trial, arguing his impartiality is compromised by his daughter’s employment with a political firm that worked for Joe Biden in 2020.
They cite this employment, recent comments Merchan made to the press, and a new gag order against Trump restricting his political speech as evidence for potential bias.
“Your Honor’s daughter is an executive and partner at Authentic Campaigns, Inc. As recently as February and March 2024, Authentic has used social media to market its connections to President Biden and Vice President Harris while deriding President Trump,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
Prosecutors responded that Trump provided no new grounds to warrant revisiting Merchan’s earlier denial of recusal.
“There is simply nothing new here that would alter this Court’s prior conclusion that nothing about this proceeding will directly benefit Authentic or this Court’s family member, let alone this Court,” the DA’s office wrote.
Trump had pleaded not guilty last year to felony charges related to hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign to Stormy Daniels.
His attorneys previously sought Merchan’s recusal based on his daughter’s job but Merchan refused, saying he could be fair and impartial.
