Trump's lawyers file motion demanding Judge Juan Merchan recuse himself from hush money case

Former President Trump and his legal team filed a motion asking that Judge Juan Merchan recuse himself from the New York hush money case after it was alleged that he had a conflict of interest.

It was discovered that Merchan's daughter, Loren Merchan, "has a direct financial interest in these proceedings by virtue of her ownership stake and leadership role at Authentic Campaigns, Inc.," according to the 37-page motion filed on Friday.

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, made it clear that there is a financial as well as ideological conflict of interest and that it is completely inappropriate that Judge Merchan oversee this case.

Judge Merchan is overseeing the indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over alleged hush money payments made by Trump ahead of the 2016 election.

While the case itself is questionable at best, the clear conflict of interest makes it apparent that Judge Merchan must remove himself from presiding over the matter.

No fair trial

Trump has a barrage of arguments that he has deployed against Bragg's indictment which is one of four that he is fighting ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November.

Trump is employing delay tactics in order to delay the trials until after the election in November. Conversely, Democrats are desperate to secure a criminal conviction of Trump in order to help President Joe Biden win a second term.

Of the four cases, Bragg's indictment is arguably the weakest, but Judge Merchan is politically biased against Trump which means the former president cannot get a fair trial until a new judge is brought in to oversee the case.

Of course, Bragg and his Democrat cronies won't want that, as replacing Merchan will likely lead to more delays in the trial.

Blanche's statement explained, "In 2019, Ms. Merchan made public statements during a podcast regarding a conversation with Your Honor that reflect bias against President Trump from both speakers in that exchange.

Blanche then tied this discovery to President Biden saying, "Consistent with that conversation, President Biden and Vice President Harris are long-term clients of Authentic and Ms. Merchan, along with many other politicians and entities who are actively campaigning and advocating against President Trump right now."

What comes next

It seems unlikely that Judge Merchan will recuse himself from this case, but if he doesn't, he is handing Trump ammunition to complicate and draw out any final adjudication of the controversy.

On top of this, even if the trial continues and Trump is found guilty, there is little chance that Americans will see Trump in a bad light.

In the past few months, the likely outcome of a conviction has shifted from a negative for Trump's campaign to a positive. Americans understand the trials are political, and a conviction won't mean what Democrats think it will.