Republicans Demand Docs From Daughter of NYC Trial Judge

Loren Merchan

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the daughter of the Manhattan trial judge who presided over Donald Trump's business records case, demanding documents relating to her past work for Democrat presumptive nominee Kamala Harris.

House Republicans are looking into potential bias related to Loren Merchan, the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, whose work on the behalf of Democrats while with Authentic Campaigns has raised eyebrows.

In the letter, Jordan said Loren Merchan could be in possession of docs that would aid House Republicans in their consideration of new legislation to combat political bias.

"Experts have raised substantial concerns with Judge Merchan, your father, refusing to recuse himself from President Trump's case despite your work on behalf of President Trump's political adversaries and the financial benefit that your firm, Authentic Campaigns Inc., could receive from the prosecution and conviction," Jordan wrote in the four-page letter.

"Since 2019, you have been closely involved in presidential campaigns for both President Biden and Vice President Harris. In 2019, you served as the director of digital persuasion for then-presidential candidate Harris's campaign while simultaneously serving as Vice President at Authentic Campaigns, a 'Chicago-based progressive political consulting firm.' During your time working on behalf of Vice President Harris, Authentic Campaigns received over $7 million in compensation for its services," the letter went on.

Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records under a "novel legal theory," Jordan's letter read.

"In testimony to the Committee, experts have explained how Judge Merchan made several errors before and during President Trump's trial that violated due process, infringed upon his First Amendment rights, and prevented him from receiving a fair trial," Jordan wrote.

"Judge Merchan's conflicts of interest and biases in the case against President Trump, the Republican nominee in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, implicate serious federal interests," he added.

Jordan's letter comes a day after Trump's legal team wrote a pre-motion letter again asking for Judge Merchan to recuse himself from the case.

"The House is currently considering legislation, informed by the Committee's oversight, that would remedy politically motivated local prosecutions by allowing a current or former president to remove the case to a more neutral forum in federal court. If such a measure were in place at the time, Judge Merchan would not have presided over President Trump's trial," he wrote.

As such, Jordan is demanding Loren Merchan turn over documents and communications by Aug. 8 that would inform "whether the House should move forward with the removal legislation discussed above."

Mark Swanson ✉

Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.

© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.