DA urges judge in Trump hush money case to deny 'frivolous' recusal motion
Former President Donald Trump failed to identify any new facts or circumstances that would justify his third attempt to have the judge overseeing his New York criminal hush money case recused, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in a court filing made public Friday.
Prosecutors, in the filing, urged Judge Juan Merchan to deny Trump's third recusal motion, describing it as a "vexatious and frivolous attempt to relitigate" an issue that the court already decided twice.
"No amount of overheated, hyperbolic rhetoric can cure the fatal defects in defendant's ongoing effort to impugn the fairness of these proceedings and the impartiality of this Court," the filing said.
Earlier this week, defense lawyers asked Judge Merchan to step aside from the case because of an alleged conflict of interest between Vice President Kamala Harris and the judge's daughter.
Prosecutors argued that the vice president was mentioned in the defense's past recusal motion -- which the court denied in April -- and that defense lawyers have failed to identify any other changes that would support their argument.
"On the merits, the Court already correctly held that the speculative series of claims in defendant's April 3 motion and affirmation do not remotely establish that the Court has 'a direct, personal, substantial or pecuniary interest in reaching a particular conclusion,'" prosecutors wrote, urging Judge Merchan to reach the same conclusion in Trump's third attempt to seek Merchan's recusal.
Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
The former president has said he will appeal the decision.
