The Manhattan district attorney’s office is fending off former President Trump’s third attempt to impeach the judge overseeing his criminal case to hush up the money.
Earlier this week, Trump’s lawyers demanded that the judge step aside because of his daughter’s work at the progressive digital agency Authentic — this time because of her work for Vice President Harris, who is expected to face Trump in November.
“The defendant’s motion to renew is a vexatious and frivolous attempt to relitigate an issue that was twice addressed by this Court in orders that the First Department then refused to disturb,” said prosecutor Matthew Colangelo. wrote in a letter became public.
Judge Juan Merchan denied similar demands for Trump’s recuse last August and another on the first day of this spring’s blockbuster trial, which ended with the first criminal conviction of a former U.S. president.
To no avail, Trump’s lawyers asserted that Merchan has a conflict of interest because his daughter will benefit if their clients defeat Trump this fall. The judge has repeatedly stated that he has received guidance from a state ethics advisory committee indicating that his recusal is unnecessary.
“No amount of exaggerated and hyperbolic rhetoric can cure the fatal defects in the defendant’s continued effort to impugn the fairness of these proceedings and the impartiality of this Court. The denial request must be denied a third time,” prosecutors wrote in their letter.
They also indicated that Harris’ rise to the role of presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party following Biden’s decision to drop out of the race does not need additional scrutiny, writing that Trump’s previous motions, which were denied, already argued that Harris was a “politician.” adversary.”
Merchan’s daughter, Loren, has been the target of Trump’s ire before because of her work for prominent Democrats, including Harris. For months, a gag order prevented the former president from speaking publicly about her.
Trump’s pressure comes as he awaits his sentencing in September, which was delayed several months after the Supreme Court issued its ruling on presidential immunity.
In late May, Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a secret payment his former fixer made to a porn star who claimed to have had an affair with Trump, who was running for president in 2016. He has denied the case and promised to appeal the conviction.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
