唐纳德·特朗普的律师再次要求法官胡安·马尔康回避这位前总统纽约封口费审判七个月前，法官拒绝了辩护律师的类似请求。
辩护律师周一提交了一封信他辩称，马尔马女儿在数字咨询公司Authentic Campaigns的工作创造了与前总统刑事审判相关的“持续经济利益”。
辩护律师托德·布兰奇(Todd Blanche)写道:“在这种情况下，法官大人在本案中有利益关系，需要回避，法院的家庭关系将影响司法行为，这种风险是不可接受的，法院的公正性‘可能会受到合理质疑’。”他请求允许提交一份支持回避的动议。
曼哈顿地区检察官办公室的检察官周二在一份文件中回应称，辩方要求马尚回避的请求存在事实缺陷，未能提供新信息，应立即予以驳回。
检察官马修·科朗吉洛说:“这里根本没有任何新的东西会改变法庭之前的结论，即这场诉讼不会直接有利于正宗或法庭的家庭成员，更不用说法庭了。”
特朗普的律师去年做出了类似的努力，根据他在2020年向民主党人提供的35美元政治捐款(包括向乔·拜登(Joe Biden)捐赠的15美元)以及他在监督2022年特朗普组织审判中的作用，以及他女儿作为政治顾问的工作，要求他回避此案。
梅尔尚拒绝回避在2023年8月的一项裁决中写道，“本法院已经审查了自己的良心，并确信自己有能力做到公平和公正。”
“被告未能证明存在具体或甚至现实的理由要求回避是适当的，更不用说这些理由了。被告提供的推测性和假设性情景远低于法律标准，”Merchan在谈到与他女儿的工作有关的指控时说。
Merchan依赖于纽约司法道德咨询委员会2023年5月发布的一份意见，该意见确定，基于他女儿的工作，他的“公正性不能受到合理质疑”。
委员会发现，“我们在调查中没有看到任何迹象表明该案件的结果可能对法官的亲属、亲属的业务或他们的任何利益产生任何影响。”
在周一的信中，特朗普的律师认为，自Merchan在2023年8月决定不回避以来，审判的情况已经发生了变化。
“辩方确认的情况已经发生。特朗普总统是2024年大选的推定共和党总统候选人，”文件称，随后强调了马尚的女儿作为政治顾问的角色。
根据美国广播公司新闻部查阅的记录，洛伦·马尔康曾担任Authentic Campaigns的合伙人，该公司曾为众多民主党客户提供数字广告植入、筹款名单收购和其他数字咨询服务。该公司过去和现在的客户包括总统乔·拜登的2020年竞选活动、副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的2020年总统竞选活动、亲民主党的超级政治行动委员会参议院多数党政治行动委员会(SMP)以及众议员亚当·希夫目前的参议院和过去的众议院竞选活动。
到目前为止，在2023/2024年选举周期中，Authentic Campaigns已获得近1200万美元。联邦选举委员会披露的报告显示，该公司去年从SMP获得了170万美元的薪酬，在2020年大选期间，拜登竞选团队和哈里斯竞选团队分别获得了210万美元和760万美元的薪酬。
“(有)强有力的证据表明，Authentic利用这起案件赚钱。布兰奇认为，这些好处和持续的经济利益是不可忽视的，”她暗示，由于特朗普刑事审判的进展为“筹款提供了素材”，马尔马的女儿将“继续挣钱”。
在周二提交的回应中，检察官对辩方关于Merchan和他女儿之间财务冲突的指控提出质疑，写道“这里有多个弱化的事实跳跃，削弱了Authentic和本案之间的任何直接联系。”
文件称，“这一连串的影射与证明本法院‘在得出特定结论方面有直接、个人、实质性或金钱利益’的证据相去甚远。”
特朗普去年4月拒不认罪一份34项罪名的起诉书指控他在2016年总统大选前几天伪造与他当时的律师迈克尔·科恩向丹尼尔斯支付的封口费款项有关的商业记录。前总统否认了所有不当行为。
审判的陪审团选举定于4月15日在纽约市进行。
Trump's lawyers push for recusal of Judge Juan Merchan in hush money case
Donald Trump's lawyers are again asking Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from the former president'sNew York hush money trial, seven months after the judge declined a similar request by defense lawyers.
Defense lawyersfiled a letter Mondayarguing that Merchan's daughter's work for the digital consulting firm Authentic Campaigns creates an "ongoing financial interest" tied to the former president's criminal trial.
"Under these circumstances, Your Honor has an interest in this case that warrants recusal, there is an unacceptable risk that the Court's family relationships will influence judicial conduct, and the Court's impartiality 'might reasonably be questioned,'" defense lawyer Todd Blanche wrote, asking for permission to file a motion in support of recusal.
Responding in a filing Tuesday, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney's office argued that the defense request for Merchan's recusal was factually flawed, failed to provide new information, and should be immediately denied.
"There is simply nothing new here that would alter this Court's prior conclusion that nothing about this proceeding will directly benefit Authentic or this Court's family member, let alone this Court," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said.
Trump's lawyers made a similar effort to have Merchan recused from the case last year based on $35 in political contributions he made to Democrats in 2020 -- including a $15 donation to Joe Biden -- as well as his role overseeing the 2022 Trump Organization trial, and his daughter's work as a political consultant.
Merchandeclined to recuse himselfin an August 2023 ruling, writing that "this Court has examined its conscience and is certain in its ability to be fair and impartial."
"Defendant has failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds. The speculative and hypothetical scenarios offered by Defendant fall well short of the legal standard," Merchan said about the allegations related to his daughter's work.
Merchan relied on a May 2023 opinion issued by New York's Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which determined that his "impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned" based on his daughter's work.
"We see nothing in the inquiry to suggest that the outcome of the case could have any effect on the judge's relative, the relative's business, or any of their interests," the committee found.
In their letter Monday, Trump's lawyers argued that the circumstances of the trial have changed since Merchan's August 2023 decision not to recuse himself.
"The scenarios identified by the defense have come to pass. President Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for president in the 2024 election," the filing said before highlighting the role of Merchan's daughter as a political consultant.
Loren Merchan has served as a partner at Authentic Campaigns, which has worked for numerous Democratic clients on digital ad placement, fundraising list acquisition and other digital consulting, according to records reviewed by ABC News. The firm's past and current clients include President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential campaign, pro-Democrat super PAC Senate Majority PAC (SMP) and Rep. Adam Schiff's current Senate and past House campaigns.
Authentic Campaigns has been paid nearly $12 million so far in the 2023/2024 election cycle. The firm was paid $1.7 million by SMP last year and $2.1 million and $7.6 million respectively by the Biden campaign and the Harris campaign during the 2020 election, FEC disclosure reports show.
"[There] is strong evidence that Authentic has used this case to make money. Those benefits and the ongoing financial interest cannot be ignored," Blanche argued, suggesting that Merchan's daughter would "continue to earn money" because developments in Trump's criminal trial create "fodder for fundraising."
In their response filed Tuesday, prosecutors disputed the defense's allegations about the financial conflict between Merchan and his daughter, writing that there are "multiple attenuated factual leaps here that undercut any direct connection between Authentic and this case."
"This daisy chain of innuendos is a far cry from evidence that this Court has 'a direct, personal, substantial or pecuniary interest in reaching a particular conclusion,'" the filing said.
Trump last Aprilpleaded not guiltyto a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to get underway April 15 in New York City.
