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By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a filing made public on Monday decried former President Donald Trump's motion to recuse Judge Juan Merchan as a "last-ditch" and "meritless" effort to delay his "hush money" criminal trial.
Context
Trump is facing criminal charges in New York City from Bragg's office surrounding allegations that he illegally falsified business records in order to conceal alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and keep her quiet about an affair she says she and Trump had in 2006. Trump has denied the affair ever happened and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
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While some legal experts have called the Manhattan case the least notable of Trump's criminal cases, it is the first set to go to trial, on Monday, April 15. As that date approaches, Trump has become increasingly aggressive on social media against Judge Merchan, who is overseeing the case, accusing him of being impartial and biased against him, and calling for his recusal. Merchan has expanded a gag order against Trump amid these attacks, some of which have also targeted his daughter, but the former president has continued to make them.
What We Know
On Friday, a New York court allowed for a briefing in response to a motion from Trump's legal team calling for Merchan's recusal. The motion cites the judge's daughter, who works extensively with high-level Democratic politicians, claiming that he cannot continue to oversee the case due to her allegedly benefiting professionally from Trump's legal battles.
On Monday, Bragg's office responded with its own filing urging the court to dismiss Trump's motion immediately. The filing stated that the latest recusal motion was nearly identical to one the former President's team put forward against Merchan in August that was denied, adding no substantial new arguments.
"This Court should construe the motion as a request for leave to reargue or renew the Court's August 11, 2023 Order rejecting defendant's earlier, identical recusal arguments and deny the motion on procedural grounds alone," Bragg's filing reads. "The motion also fails on the merits. Defendant's rewarmed arguments identify no new law or fact that calls into question this Court's prior conclusion..."
Later, it added: "Defendant's motion is not a good-faith effort to identify legitimate grounds for this Court's recusal... And the motion is yet another last-ditch attempt to address defendant's real objective, which is—as the Court has already recognized—to delay this proceeding indefinitely."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email on Monday morning for comment.
Views
In a post to X, Andrew Weissmann, the former general counsel for the FBI who also served as lead prosecutor in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's 2016 campaign, said it was an "interesting 'tell'" that one of Trump's key Manhattan case lawyers, Susan Necheles, had not signed off on the motion to recuse. He later clarified his statement to Newsweek.
"What I meant is it appears that one of the lawyers has refused to put her name on certain filings, filings that the court has itself noted in a written admonition may go beyond the scope of zealous advocacy and could be subject to sanctions," he said. "It is exceedingly unusual to see a filing signed by only some but not all of the defense team."
What Comes Next
Trump's Manhattan criminal trial is scheduled to begin next week on April 15.
Update 04/08/24 12:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and background.
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