The American judge Juan Merchan has rejected for the third time a request for recusal against him by former President Donald Trump, found guilty in May of 34 charges in the case of falsifying business records to hide a payment to the former porn actress ‘Stormy Daniels’.
“Clearly stated: the defendant’s arguments are nothing more than a repetition of obsolete and unsubstantiated claims,” Merchan said in the ruling, dismissing Trump’s request for an alleged conflict of interest.
Specifically, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, has argued that the judge’s daughter “has a close relationship” with the American vice president, Kamala Harris, future Democratic candidate for the presidential elections in November, to which the tycoon is running.
“She (Loren) has derived, and expects to derive in the future, extensive financial, professional and personal benefits from her relationship with Harris,” the former president’s lawyer explained in a joint letter with another of his representatives, Emil Bove, according to The Hill.
Mike Nellis, the founder of the company where Loren works, published a long letter on the social network X in which he denied any type of connection or work in favor of Harris’ presidential campaign, while asserting that the judge’s daughter has not developed “any personal relationship” with the candidate.
“The accusations against us are absurd and completely false. However, this has not stopped MAGA conspiracy theorists from harassing our employees and sending death threats to some of our families,” he added.
The investigation against Trump for the Stormy Daniels bribery case was initiated by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, following an alleged plan by the tycoon to bury in the media several sexual scandals during the campaign for the 2016 presidential elections.
According to prosecutors, Trump’s then lawyer, Michael Cohen, who was also vice president of the Trump Organization, managed the payment to the former porn actress by providing said amount from his own pocket and the former president reimbursed him the money hidden in various legal expenses within the company’s records.
