In a new legal filing, Trump, a convicted felon, complains about the former California attorney general's "prosecutor vs. felon" campaign taunts.
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Vice President Kamala Harris framing the presidential race as "prosecutor vs. felon" may have touched a nerve with Donald Trump.
Such framing is "false" and "inaccurate," according to a new defense filing that asks the judge in his hush-money case to voluntarily step down prior to a pending sentencing that Trump has also challenged.
"Harris immediately framed her candidacy with a specific false reference to this case as a contest of 'prosecutor vs. convicted felon,'" Trump's filing complains.
Harris's framing is an "inaccurate attack," it adds, without describing an inaccuracy. Harris is the former district attorney for San Francisco and attorney general for California; in May, Trump became the first former president convicted of a felony.
Trump's one-page letter, made public Thursday, is his third try at asking New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to recuse himself, this time as the case nears a sentencing tentatively set for September 18.
As did his earlier failed recusal attempts, this new one centers on the judge's daughter, Loren Merchan, a political consultant who has worked for Democratic campaigns, including for Harris's 2019 run for president and for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign.
Harris running as Trump's direct opponent adds new fuel to the recusal argument, defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove now write.
"In light of the long-standing and extremely beneficial working relationship between Your Honor's daughter and Vice President Kamala Harris, who recently became the presumptive Presidential nominee of the Democrat Party, we respectfully submit this pre-motion letter to renew our request that the Court recuse itself," the letter begins.
Trump is "the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election," Blanche and Bove continue.
And Harris, "emerged as his presumptive opponent after it became apparent to the public that the Biden Administration's lawfare against President Trump was motivated by President Biden's alarming decline."
Trump's letter complains that his now four-month-old gag order, which he has also challenged, somehow prevents him from freely addressing Harris's "prosecutor vs. felon" gibes.
"Your Honor has insisted on maintaining an unconstitutional Gag Order, backed by threats of imprisonment made during the trial, that prevents President Trump from responding fully to that inaccurate attack," the letter says.
The gag bars Trump from attacking by name a limited set of people involved in the trial, including jurors, prosecutors, court staff, and their families.
The gag was upheld on Thursday by a mid-level New York appellate court.
Trump's letter to the judge also complains that Merchan's daughter "has a long-standing relationship with Harris, including work for political campaigns."
The letter continues, "She has obtained—and stands to obtain in the future—extensive financial, professional, and personal benefits from her relationship with Harris."
Prosecutors have yet to respond. In addition to the recusal request, Trump has also asked Merchan to throw out the hush money case in its entirety on US Supreme Court presidential immunity grounds.
Merchan has said that he will issue a decision on that request on September 6.
Also Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to Loren Merchan demanding all contracts, invoices, and communications from her Chicago-based firm, Authentic Campaigns, relating to her work for the campaigns of Harris and President Joe Biden and for the Democratic National Committee from January 1, 2023, to the present.
The letter also seeks all documents and communications involving Authentic Campaigns and the Trump hush-money case. The letter gives her one week to turn the material over to the committee, as part of its "oversight of politically motivated prosecutions by state and local officials."
The letter alleges that Authentic Campaigns earned "over $7 million in compensation" for its work on campaigns involving Harris. The letter does not allege that Authentic Campaigns' work for Harris ever overlapped with her father presiding over the hush-money case.
In May of 2023, the New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics found that Merchan was not compromised by his daughter's political activities, writing, "A relative's independent political activities do not provide a reasonable basis to question the judge's impartiality."
Update August 1, 2024: This story was updated to include details of the Jordan letter and its demands on Loren Merchan.
