Trump demands judge's recusal in DA Bragg case

Former President Donald Trump on Friday demanded that the judge handling Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against him recuse himself from the matter, asserting that he is not an impartial figure.

Trump's attorneys submitted a filing to the court pointing to Judge Juan Merchan's past role in a previous case in which he encouraged former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg to cooperate against the former president, before noting the political and financial interest of the judge's daughter in the case's outcome.

Merchan's daughter works for Authentic Strategies, a left-wing advertising group that Trump's attorneys say stands to make money on the case, according to The Hill. The attorneys noted that the case's outcome will likely affect political messaging during the 2024 electoral cycle and shape the ways Authentic works with its clients.

They further asked Merchan to explain "what appear to be certain political contributions made by [Merchan] to candidate Joe Biden’s Presidential campaign and other political causes so that the defense can assess whether these donations separately warrant [the judge's] recusal."

Federal Election Commission records show that someone named Juan Merchan, an employee of the New York court system, gave $35 in political contributions in 2020, $15 of which went to President Joe Biden's campaign.

"This case before this Court is historic and it is important that the People of the State of New York and this nation have confidence that the jurist who presides over it is impartial. Most respectfully, the foregoing facts compel the conclusion that Your Honor is not and thus should recuse," the former president's legal team insisted.

Trump is facing 34 criminal counts stemming from a 2016 payment his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.