Trump requests judge's recusal in hush money criminal case.
Former President Donald Trump has asked Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over his criminal prosecution in New York City, to step aside due to the judge's daughter's ties to a Democratic organization. Trump's attorneys argued that Merchan cannot be impartial because his daughter is an executive at Authentic Campaigns, a Democratic consulting firm that worked on President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. The defense also cited Merchan's oversight of a prior criminal case involving the Trump Organization. This is the second attempt by Trump to move his criminal case out of Merchan's courtroom.