On Friday, August 2, 2024, the Washington Examiner reported that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg urged Judge Juan Merchan to deny former president Donald Trump’s latest request that the judge recuse himself from the hush money case against Trump.
Prosecutors working for Bragg argued in a court letter made public that day that Vice President Kamala Harris becoming Trump’s opponent in the 2024 presidential election was an irrelevant detail, despite Harris previously working with Judge Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, at a top Democratic marketing firm called Authentic Campaigns.
The prosecutors characterized Trump’s recusal request as a “vexatious and frivolous attempt to relitigate an issue that was twice addressed by this Court.” It was the third time Trump had asked Judge Merchan to recuse himself due to a potential conflict of interest involving Loren Merchan’s employment. Judge Merchan had denied the two previous requests, saying an independent panel found Merchan’s work at Authentic Campaigns did not present a conflict.
However, Trump’s attorneys argued that Harris emerging as his opponent elevated the need for recusal. They observed that while working at Authentic Campaigns, the firm was the top vendor for Harris’s unsuccessful 2020 presidential bid and received over $5 million from the campaign. The defense attorneys stated Merchan had “obtained — and stands to obtain in the future — extensive financial, professional, and personal benefits from her relationship with Harris.”
According to Federal Election Commission records cited by Trump’s legal team, Authentic Campaigns received more than $12 million in 2024 from Democratic politicians and groups. Reports also indicated the firm’s founder, who works with Loren Merchan, led an effort called “White Dudes for Harris” that has raised millions for the Vice President’s current campaign.
Prosecutors responded that Trump’s lawyers were speculatively claiming Judge Merchan’s daughter would directly profit from a conviction, rather than providing conclusive evidence of a conflict. A decision on Trump’s challenges to his guilty verdict and his sentencing in the case remain pending before Judge Merchan.
Source: Washington Examiner
