Trump’s attorneys are now considering filing another motion demanding Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan recuse himself from the trial set to begin April 15, sources said.
The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is president of Authentic Campaigns, a Chicago-based progressive political consulting firm whose top clients include California Rep. Adam Schiff, who was the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and the Senate Majority PAC, a major party fundraiser.
“Authentic Campaigns, and thus the judge’s daughter, is actively making money from this sham attack against President Trump, rendering Judge Merchan conflicted out,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told The Post, adding that evidence of bias is even clearer now than it was in August when Merchan rejected Trump’s first recusal motion.
“The judge should do the right thing and immediately recuse himself in order to show the American people that the Democrats have not destroyed our justice system completely . . . him continuing to be involved in this Crooked Joe Biden-directed Witch Hunt is a complete violation of applicable rules, regulations and ethics.”
Schiff’s campaign for US Senate scored an eye-popping $20 million in donations since he began soliciting donations off the presumptive GOP presidential frontrunner’s unprecedented 34-count indictment last April, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to felony counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.
He has denied having an affair with Daniels. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
Schiff’s fundraising email began, “It is a somber moment, and unprecedented for a former president to be indicted, but his alleged offenses are also unprecedented.”
“Trump will respond as he always does — playing the victim and blaming others for having the temerity to investigate him in the first place,” Schiff continued in the email request to supporters for $10 donations last spring.
The Senate Majority political action committee, which supports Democratic Senate campaigns, pocketed $73.6 million since it also began firing off fundraising emails following the ex-president’s indictment.
“BREAKING NEWS: Donald Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury This is an important moment for our democracy, but our work isn’t over,” the group said in an email, Fox News reported.
“We must continue protecting our Senate majority from GOP extremists. Please, rush in $10 (becomes $60) to help Defend the Senate.”
The super PAC has done more than $15 million in business with Authentic since 2019, including email fundraising and branding assistance, while Schiff’s Senate campaign paid Authentic more than $10 million for digital advertising and other consulting services the past year, records show.
“We must continue protecting our Senate majority from GOP extremists. Please, rush in $10 (becomes $60) to help Defend the Senate.”
Constitutional and criminal law attorney Alan Dershowitz said if the judge’s daughter is involved in anti-Trump politics, “there seems to be a basis for recusal of the father.”
“Under the law, close relationships can sometimes constitute a basis for recusal,” he told The Post.
Loren Merchan — who worked for Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign as “director of digital persuasion” — has said her father detests politicians using Twitter, an apparent reference to Trump.
“I’ve actually had a couple conversations with my dad recently where he’s kind of like ‘I hate that politicians use Twitter,’ and like ‘it’s so unprofessional’ and you know, ‘that’s not how a politician should behave themselves,’ and I explain that like yeah I think there are a lot of instances where it is not used in, like when our President [Trump] tweets anything that he thinks, and like that’s not what he should be using it for,” the 34-year-old Merchan offered during a podcast appearance in June 2019.
Justice Merchan, 61, on Tuesday, imposed a limited gag order on Trump, prohibiting him from publicly bashing witnesses — such as his fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen — prosecutors, court staff, and jurors.
Trump, 77, will still be allowed to rip Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting the case, per the ruling. It also does not bar comments about Merchan or his family.
Trump took aim Tuesday on his Truth Social, writing, “Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. In other words, he hates me!