Former President Donald Trump’s legal team filed a motion for recusal last week against Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over President Donald Trump’s hush-money case set to begin trial on April 15, for alleged conflicts of interest. The judge has well-established political biases — which look particularly bad in light of his recent unlawful gag order that prohibits Trump from making public statements about people involved in the case, including the judge’s anti-Trump activist daughter.
Liberal Judge Merchan’s gag order on President Trump prompted the discovery that Loren Merchan, his daughter, has ties to outspoken Trump opponents. A 2022 wedding announcement in Politico identified Loren Merchan as president and partner of the Democrat marketing firm Authentic Campaigns, the clientele of which includes some of Trump’s top rivals in the Democrat party such as Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s lawyers filed a motion to recuse last year due to Loren Merchan’s organization receiving many millions of dollars from top Democrat officials, including the Biden campaign. At the time, however, Trump was not yet the Republican presidential nominee. Since then, the motion alleges, more evidence of partiality has surfaced. As journalist Julie Kelly revealed last Monday, Loren Merchan’s organization has received massive payments from Schiff that totaled $4 million. Schiff reportedly made the payments while he was working to take down Trump with Michael Cohen, who is also set to appear as a witness in Judge Merchan’s courtroom.
Even the judge himself has donated to Democrats.
