Trump tries to kick judge off Stormy Daniels hush money case AGAIN: Ex-president says Juan Merchan should recuse himself because of his daughter’s work
- Trump failed to persuade Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself over the summer
- Trump’s attorney raised the same issues about his daughter’s work for a law firm
Donald Trump has launched a second attempt to kick out the judge in his hush money trial against Stormy Daniels.
The former president’s lawyers have requested permission to file a formal motion asking Judge Juan Merchan to avenge his daughter’s work.
Lawyers for the 77-year-old Republican claim that Merchan’s daughter Loren’s position at a political consulting firm with Democratic clients poses a conflict of interest.
Donald Trump has launched a second attempt to kick out the judge in his hush money trial against Stormy Daniels
The former president’s lawyers have requested permission to file a formal motion asking Judge Juan Merchan (above) to recuse himself
The move by the presumptive Republican nominee’s lawyers comes just 24 hours after Merchan extended the silence order to Trump to stop attacking her.
Trump, 77, has frequently attacked Merchan’s daughter online, saying she posted a photo of him behind bars in a claim that was later debunked.
Trump himself risked violating the extended silence order by posting a clip of Fox News host Brian Kilmeade pursuing Merchan’s daughter’s advocacy role.
In a one-page court filing dated April 1 and made public on Tuesday, the former president’s lawyers asked Merchan for permission to file a formal request asking him to recuse himself, arguing that the lawsuit would be financially would benefit his daughter’s firm, Authentic Campaigns.
Trump has regularly attacked Merchan’s daughter Loren online
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of falsifying company records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels over her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump .
The trial in Manhattan begins on April 15. It is the first of four criminal trials the ex-president faces. He will be photographed in court at the end of March
“It can no longer be ignored that Authentic’s commercial interests benefit from developments in this case,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
Trump has denied guilty of 34 counts of falsifying company records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels over her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter he said he had with Trump had.
Trump denies any meeting with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
The trial in Manhattan begins on April 15. It is the first of four criminal trials the ex-president faces.
Trump tried to force Merchan to repent last year, but the request was denied.
Trump’s latest challenge, by attorney Todd Blanche, states that “hypothetical scenarios have come true” and that Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee.
“Your Honor’s daughter is a director and partner at Autnentic Campaigns, Inc.,” he wrote. He says the company “used social media to highlight its connections to President Biden and Vice President Harris, while ridiculing President Trump.”
It claims the trial will “benefit Authentic financially by providing its customers with more fundraising fodder.”