Trump Loses Another Bid to Remove Judge in Hush Money Trial

NEW YORK—Judge Juan Merchan, the presiding justice in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial involving AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels, has once again ruled the former president has no standing to request his removal as judge. The Associated Press reports that Merchan declined to grant a motion for recusal in the case and added that Trump's demand was "rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about his impartiality in court. This was the third time Merchan rejected requests from Trump's defense counsel to have him removed from the case. Attorneys for Trump have argued time and again that Merchan's daughter, Loren Merchan, compromises the judge's ability to rule impartially in the trial against Trump. Loren Merchan is the president and partner at Authentic Campaigns, Inc., a political consultancy that has done work for Democrats, such as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Other elements of Trump's request for recusal include unsubstantiated claims that were additionally addressed in May 2023. A state judicial ethics panel ruled, "A relative’s independent political activities do not provide a reasonable basis to question the judge’s impartiality." The ethics panel's ruling stands. Merchan has been a judge for many years in Manhattan. He disclosed last year that he made several small donations to Democratic-leaning campaigns, including a $15 federal contribution to Joe Biden's election bid in 2020. Judge Merchan has maintained that he can be fair and impartial in Trump's trial. Merchan wrote in his three-page ruling that he will continue to make his ruling based "on the evidence and the law, without fear or favor, casting aside undue influence," per the Associated Press report. He added, "With these fundamental principles in mind, this Court now reiterates for the third time, that which should already be clear—innuendo and mischaracterizations do not a conflict create. ... Recusal is therefore not necessary, much less required." Despite this, one issue to point to is the harassment Merchan's daughter has faced during Trump's trial. U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, also sent a letter to Loren Merchan and Authentic demanding they produce records about the Biden and Harris campaigns and provide any documentation about supposed efforts to coordinate on indicting and finding former President Trump guilty in the hush money trial that ended in May. "Over the last year, we have tried to trust and respect the process," Authentic founder Mike Nellis said in a statement on X on August 13.  "However, since the committee has chosen to recklessly spread misinformation and endanger lives, we felt compelled to publicly share our response to their recent request for Authentic’s documents and communications," Nellis added. "They should focus their time on the real issues facing our nation." AVN has reported extensively on the hush money trial, including events after Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The felony counts surround the conspiracy Trump instigated to cover up his affair with Stormy Daniels during a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006. Due to a recent controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded presidential immunity, Trump's guilty verdict and sentencing were delayed by Merchan from July to September to review the ruling to determine whether evidence used against the former president is inadmissible in the case. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the state prosecuting attorney, argued in filings that Trump's acts in covering up the Stormy Daniels affair were done in his unofficial capacity and are not covered by expanded presidential immunity, as defined by the Supreme Court's ruling.