INTIMIDATION: Why is Trump posting photos of Judge Merchan’s daughter?
Donald Trump is very unhappy that Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter has clients who are Democrats.
When you consider everyone who disagrees with you or stands up to you an enemy, you can really build up a long list of enemies. Donald Trump seems to think he has a right to have only allies in the courtroom, and he’s leaning heavily on a series of insubstantial connections to claim that the case against him is unfair.
His current focus is on Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the felony case in which Trump is accused of illegally falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments that were, in turn, to cover up an affair.
More acutely, Trump’s focus is on the judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, who is not in any way a party to the case, but does do political consulting, including for several prominent Democrats with whom Trump has beef.
He claims that Merchan’s daughter is evidence of a conflict of interest, although the judge already conferred with the judicial ethics committee to determine whether he should recuse himself.
Despite being under a gag order that limits how he can speak about employees of the court and their families, Trump continues to post about Ms. Merchan, and his most recent attack includes photos of the judge’s daughter. He wrote, in part:
“This is a disgrace to our Legal System. Judge Merchan should be immediately sanctioned and recused, and this fake “case,” only kept alive by the Highly Conflicted Judge, should be completely dismissed right away – THERE IS NO CASE, THERE IS NO CRIME.”
That message came in conjunction with a link to an article that attempts to make a connection between Judge Merchan and political endeavors, and includes quotes from Trump’s own team. According to the New York Post piece:
“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.
But the judge did not bring the case, nor did he sit on the Grand Jury that found sufficient evidence to bring the charges. Judge Merchan’s job is to preside over the case, and his daughter’s job is — well, entirely unconnected, despite Trump’s feelings about her clients.
In fact, the ethics committee espoused the same view. Newsweek reported:
“Writing about his daughter, the ethics committee said that ‘the matter currently before the judge does not involve either the judge’s relative or the relative’s business, whether directly or indirectly.’ The committee also saw ‘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.'”
However, unless the gag order is deemed to extend to the judge’s family as well, none of this stops Trump from making public attacks that may encourage his fans to harass her. You can see a screenshot of his post below.
