Experts slam Trump’s 'garbage motion' asking Judge Merchan to recuse himself from NY trial

Donald Trump’s legal team has filed a 37-page motion asking to have New York State Superior Court Judge Juan Merchan recuse himself from overseeing District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case alleging the ex-president falsified business records when he paid “hush money” to Stormy Daniels in an effort to assist his 2016 campaign for president.

According to MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin, the publication of the filing means that the court has allowed Trump’s team to do so.

Trump previously attempted to have Merchan recuse, or removed, from the case, citing the judge’s daughter’s employment with a digital marketing and progressive political consulting firm, Authentic Campaigns, that has top Democrats as its clients.

Rubin explains that “the standard for recusal that Trump’s team has invoked necessitates finding that the judge knew or should have known his daughter has an interest that would be substantially affected by this case.”

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She says, “the exhibits to the motion…needlessly mention the names of other employees of Merchan’s daughter’s firm,” and adds, “More importantly, the exhibits to the motion do not suggest such evidence was not available to them last year, even before their initial motion.”

“Trump’s motion does not posit a direct link between Loren Merchan’s interest in Authentic and this case; what they have are a handful of communications issued by its clients in March & April last year that mention the case.”

Trump’s legal team is arguing, Rubin writes, that Merchan’s daughter’s “work at a digital marketing firm that works with Democratic candidates and entities on online fundraising solicitations is itself disqualifying because they create an appearance of impropriety.”

The bottom line from Rubin’s walk-through of Trump’s motion is this: “the fact that 5-6 clients mentioned the case last year in a small number of online communications never attributed expressly to her firm doesn’t satisfy the recusal standard. Nor does their new, ‘throw it all in a blender’ strategy work.”

Courthouse News’ Erik Uebelacker reports the “bulk” of Trump’s motion to have Merchan recuse “surrounds – you guessed it – Merchan’s daughter being ‘anti-Trump’ through her work in political PR. One of her clients is Rep. Adam Schiff, who made explainers about Trump’s cases that Trump takes issue with.”

CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen, a former U.S. Ambassador, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment agrees with Rubin.

“Merchan has allowed Trump to file a motion to recuse him,” Eisen reports. He adds: “NO judge would grant this garbage motion.”

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