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Donald Trump’s legal team is arguing that the judge overseeing his criminal case in Manhattan has a conflict of interest due to his daughter’s work.
Loren Merchan is a Democratic strategist whose firm has earned $93 million from Adam Schiff and other Democrats who have heavily criticized Trump.
They argue her advocacy against Trump while financially benefiting from Democratic attacks creates an insurmountable conflict for her father, Judge Juan Merchan.
“Authentic Campaigns, and thus the judge’s daughter, is actively making money from this sham attack against President Trump, rendering Judge Merchan conflicted out,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said.
“The judge should do the right thing and immediately recuse himself in order to show the American people that the Democrats have not destroyed our justice system completely … him continuing to be involved in this Crooked Joe Biden-directed Witch Hunt is a complete violation of applicable rules, regulations and ethics.”
“It is a somber moment, and unprecedented for a former president to be indicted, but his alleged offenses are also unprecedented,” Adam Schiff’s fundraising letter states. “Trump will respond as he always does — playing the victim and blaming others for having the temerity to investigate him in the first place.” The message ends with a request for donations of $10 and up.
Trump’s spokesman and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz say there is merit to recusing the judge due to his daughter’s close relationship with Democrats profiting off the case.
However, Judge Merchan has so far rejected calls to recuse himself, though he issued a gag order against Trump commenting on officials involved as the case moves forward later this month.
“[T]here seems to be a basis for recusal of the father. Under the law, close relationships can sometimes constitute a basis for recusal,” Dershowitz said.
“I’ve actually had a couple conversations with my dad recently where he’s kind of like ‘I hate that politicians use Twitter,’ and like ‘It’s so unprofessional’ and you know, ‘That’s not how a politician should behave themselves,’ and I explain that like yeah, I think there are a lot of instances where it is not used in, like when our President [Trump] tweets anything that he thinks, and like that’s not what he should be using it for,” said former digital director for Vice President Kamala Harris Loren Merchan in 2019.
