House Judiciary Committee issues subpoena aimed at Trump trial judge's daughter
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed a progressive campaign company in an ongoing political battle over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's criminal conviction.
Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote Wednesday to the founder of Authentic Campaigns to argue for the compulsion of previously requested information that could aid the oversight of Trump's New York criminal case. The daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the New York hush money trial, works at Authentic Campaigns.
"Popularly elected prosecutors, such as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, have engaged in an unprecedented abuse of authority by prosecuting a former President of the United States and current nominee for that office," the letter states. "Of relevance to the Committee’s oversight is the impartiality of Judge Juan Merchan, the presiding trial judge, due to his refusal to recuse himself from the case in light of his apparent conflicts of interest and biases."
Authentic Campaigns did not immediately respond to Paste BN's request for comment, but founder Mike Nellis on X called the subpoena a politically motivated intimidation tactic:
"This is yet another abuse of power, aimed at promoting a baseless right-wing conspiracy theory that links our company, Authentic, to Donald Trump’s fraud trial," Nellis wrote. "We are thoroughly reviewing the subpoena with our legal team and will provide updates as soon as we have more information."
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In May, Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records after a jury found he disguised reimbursements for a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan presided over the case and became the frequent target of political attacks.
Judge Merchan's daughter, Loren Merchan, works at Authentic Campaigns, a company that works with Democratic candidates and non-profits.
Trump tried three times to replace the judge in the case, arguing that Loren Merchan's work creates actual or apparent conflict of interest. The latest effort came after Kamala Harris stepped into Joe Biden's spot in the Democratic presidential campaign.
The New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics previously found the case didn't involve Loren Merchan or her business either "directly or indirectly."
Subpoena latest in political attacks against conviction
During the trial, several House Republicans visited the Manhattan courthouse to bash Merchan and call into question the integrity of the legal proceedings. (Trump was barred from speaking about people involved in the case due to a gag order). The House Judiciary Committee also called the charges part of a "vendetta" before Trump was even convicted.
Jordan's letter Wednesday states that the Committee has asked Authentic Campaigns to voluntarily turn over documents and information on multiple occasions starting Aug. 1. The organization declined to comply, according to Jordan's letter, which accuses the organization of evading the request. The letter also requests Authentic Campaigns issue a sworn statement if they find no relevant documents.
"The requested material will inform the House’s consideration of whether to move forward with legislation, informed by the Committee’s oversight, which, if adopted, 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," the letter stated.
"This is a blatant attempt to intimidate us and divert attention from Donald Trump’s conviction," Nellis said in his post on X. "We refuse to be bullied, and we will not allow House Republicans or MAGA extremists to spread lies about our work."
Paste BN reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign and the Trump-Vance campaign for comment.
Trump has entered a motion to dismiss the hush money conviction based on the Supreme Court's presidential immunity case. The sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18, but Trump has asked for that to be pushed until after the election.
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, Bart Jansen