The historic first-ever criminal trial of a former United States President is beginning, and it’s already looking rough for the defendant, Donald J. Trump..
Trump spent the week before trial having one motion after another to delay or stop the case rejected, and Monday morning, he entered the courtroom prepared to push last-ditch efforts. The first loss came in response to his latest request for Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself.
Trump’s reasons are not new, though. He claims that the judge’s daughter’s work as a political consultant creates an inherent bias and conflict of interest, and that this is amplified now that he has the delegates necessary to take the Republican nomination.
These are the same arguments Merchan has rejected already, with advice and counsel from a judicial ethics board, and Trump’s slightly-modified status as presumptive Republican nominee rather than merely the likeliest nominee didn’t change that. USA Today reported:
“The revamped argument was a no-go with Merchan, who noted the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics’ determination that Merchan’s impartiality couldn’t be reasonably questioned based on the daughter’s work at marketing agency Authentic Campaigns, Inc. because Trump’s case doesn’t involve her business.”
The motion for recusal also addressed two statements from the court that Trump’s team claims are evidence of an unfair bias.
One is the Twitter argument — Trump’s lawyers assert that Merchan’s daughter stated on a podcast that her dad has a problem with Trump. As previously reported, the District Attorney’s response pointed out that what was actually said was that Merchan “hates that politicians use Twitter,” which is not a statement that establishes any bias. Inner City Press reports that Merchan said much the same:
“Defendant pointed to a podcast by a member of the Court’s family and a quote that politicians should not be using Twitter — but does not show bias.”
Merchan also noted that the pages of screenshots of social media posts are from an account that “did not belong to the family member at the time the post was made.”
Trump and his supporters have continued to try to hold Merchan accountable for material posted by an unknown individual on an account by the same name as one his daughter closed a year or more ago.
Bizarrely, the second statement that Trump’s team found inappropriate was one reportedly made to press by the judge, stating simply, “There’s no agenda here.”
The judge explained that Trump’c counsel had entirely failed to show any reason that statement would violate the former president’s rights, Adam Klasfeld of Just Security reports.
Judge Merchan also said that the court will not entertain any further arguments regarding his daughter’s work.
For clarifications, comments, & typos, email: editor@occupydemocrats.com.
