Former President Donald Trump alleged the judge in his New York criminal case is biased against him by pointing out the judge’s family ties on Tuesday.
Ahead of his arraignment in Manhattan, Trump took aim at acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, whose firm has done work for the campaigns of top Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
“HIS DAUGHTER WORKED FOR ‘KAMALA’ & NOW THE BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN. KANGAROO COURT!!!” Trump said in a post to Truth Social. He also claimed that the judge’s family is full of “TRUMP HATERS” and called for the case to be moved to Staten Island.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., shared a Breitbart News article identifying Loren Merchan as the daughter of Justice Juan Merchan and exploring her work history. The report features a photo on the Flickr account of the Geneseo Alumni Office showing Loren Merchan with her father, posing together.
“Seems relevant… yet another connection in this hand picked democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks,” he said.
Seems relevant… yet another connection in this hand picked democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks.
Daughter of Judge on Trump Case Worked on Biden-Harris Campaign https://t.co/5FtA7K9732
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 4, 2023
That post and one from Trump’s other son, Eric, prompted a rebuke from Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler.
“Both Trump sons have now posted photos of the judge’s adult daughter. Totally irrelevant — and obviously intended to intimidate,” he tweeted.
Both Trump sons have now posted photos of the judge's adult daughter. Totally irrelevant — and obviously intended to intimidate. pic.twitter.com/nmYxjGjKIG
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) April 4, 2023
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine shot back at Kessler.
“This is the ‘fact checker’ for the Washington Post, deliberately misleading his readers. Neither Trump posted photos of the judge’s daughter. They posted a *link* to an article stating she had worked for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Also the judge is a Biden donor. Relevant facts,” she said.
This is the “fact checker” for the Washington Post, deliberately misleading his readers. Neither Trump posted photos of the judge’s daughter. They posted a *link* to an article stating she had worked for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Also the judge is a Biden donor. Relevant facts https://t.co/QtjGGyUxRw
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 4, 2023
While social media accounts allegedly associated with Loren Merchan appear to have been scrubbed, there are some clues about Merchan’s work history that can be found on the Internet. Most notably, she reportedly became president of Authentic Campaigns, a political digital communications firm, in 2020. She is also listed as a partner.
In October 2020, Authentic’s Twitter account proudly shared the news that Merchan was picked as a “Rising Star” by the magazine Campaigns & Elections. The post shared a Twitter handle with Merchan’s first name that appears to have been deactivated.
What has not been taken down is the brief biography that Campaigns & Elections published about Merchan, which lists some of her firm’s high-profile clients.
“Throughout her career, Loren has fought hard to get results. Not just for her clients but for the industry as a whole and the people who work in it,” the blurb says. “Her work is setting new benchmarks and winning elections.”
“In addition to doing ground-breaking, historical work for clients like Jon Tester, Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff, and others, Authentic Campaigns is setting new industry standards through its commitment to diversity, transparent compensation, employee benefits, and more,” the blurb adds. “Loren is working to transform the industry by developing new best practices for the work we do for our clients as well as the work we do for our people.”
In addition, the Authentic website lists President Joe Biden’s White House campaign with Harris among its clients.
There is also a 2018 post on the Authentic website from Merchan that it said originally appeared as an editorial with Campaigns & Elections. In it Merchan talks about how Republicans outspent Democrats on digital platforms in 2016.
“What’s interesting is, while most campaigns and consultants quickly accepted 2016’s lessons about fundraising, most seem to shrug off the lessons about persuasion,” she wrote. “In 2016, Hillary Clinton and her supporters ran about 75% of the presidential TV spots while Donald Trump invested early in digital, spending $8 million in July compared with Clinton’s $130k.”
The Daily Wire reached out for comment from Authentic about Trump’s Truth Social post.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged to be a “catch-and-kill” scheme to influence the 2016 election.
During the arraignment on Tuesday, the prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s rhetoric on social media. The judge reportedly did not issue a gag order, but warned the former president not to make inflammatory comments that could lead to unrest.
Trump is facing legal jeopardy in multiple investigations as he runs a third campaign for the presidency. Trump broadly denies any wrongdoing, claiming he is the target of a political “witch hunt.”