U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
01/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/08/2024 06:41
Chairman Jordan Demands Documents About Potential Bias in Trump Trial Judge
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letterto Loren Merchan, President of Authentic Campaigns Inc. and a former Kamala Harris campaign staffer, requesting documents and communications between Authentic Campaigns, the Biden-Harris campaign, and the Democrat National Committee related to the prosecution of President Donald Trump. Loren Merchan's father, Judge Juan Merchan, presided over the trial and refused to recuse himself despite the apparent conflict of interest.
Experts have raised substantial concerns with Judge Merchan refusing to recuse himself from President Trump's case despite his daughter's work on behalf of President Trump's political adversaries and the financial benefit that Loren Merchan's firm, Authentic Campaigns Inc., could receive from the prosecution and conviction.
Excerpts of the Letter to Loren Merchan:
Experts have raised substantial concerns with Judge Merchan refusing to recuse himself from President Trump's case despite his daughter's work on behalf of President Trump's political adversaries and the financial benefit that Loren Merchan's firm, Authentic Campaigns Inc., could receive from the prosecution and conviction.
Excerpts of the Letter to Loren Merchan:
"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. According to your now-deleted LinkedIn, after Vice President Harris dropped out of the Democrat primary, you were promoted to President of Authentic Campaigns.
"Campaigns then conducted work for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign, which included 'digital paid media, design and development, social media, mobile messaging, [and] artificial intelligence.' According to Authentic Campaigns' website, Authentic Campaigns sought to '[h]arness the potential of conversation AI for presidential campaign marketing to connect the Biden campaign with undecided voters in crucial swing states, particularly those unreachable through traditional means due to COVID-19 restrictions.' According to public records, the Biden-Harris campaign paid Authentic Campaigns just over $2 million in a one month period for its work.
"On April 4, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted President Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Since the indictments, two of Authentic Campaigns' top clients-Representative Adam Schiff and the Senate Majority PAC-have raised 'at least $93 million in campaign donations' while referencing the indictments in their solicitation emails. Notably, according to one report, Representative Schiff's campaign for U.S. Senate has received '$20 million in aid since he began soliciting donations off the presumptive GOP presidential front-runner's unprecedented 34-count indictment last April.' The Senate Majority PAC similarly has 'pocketed $73.6 million since it also began firing off fundraising emails following the ex-president's indictment.' At a minimum, there is a perception that you and Authentic Campaigns could profit considerably from President Trump's prosecution in a forum overseen by your father.
"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. Among other fundamental errors, Judge Merchan admitted into evidence plainly inadmissible, irrelevant, and prejudicial testimony against President Trump, while limiting President Trump's ability to rebut it. Judge Merchan issued a gag order to prohibit President Trump from making statements about the judge's family members, including you and your political advocacy work on behalf of Democrats. Judge Merchan refused to recuse himself, despite his close ties to Democrat aligned interests and the likelihood that your political advocacy firm could benefit financially from his rulings. Judge Merchan's bias was so obvious that one former federal prosecutor, a left-wing legal analyst, disagreed forcefully with Judge Merchan's decision not to recuse, stating that he 'absolutely should have recused himself[.]'
"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. Congress has a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents, especially in venues in which real or perceived biases exist. 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."
"Campaigns then conducted work for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign, which included 'digital paid media, design and development, social media, mobile messaging, [and] artificial intelligence.' According to Authentic Campaigns' website, Authentic Campaigns sought to '[h]arness the potential of conversation AI for presidential campaign marketing to connect the Biden campaign with undecided voters in crucial swing states, particularly those unreachable through traditional means due to COVID-19 restrictions.' According to public records, the Biden-Harris campaign paid Authentic Campaigns just over $2 million in a one month period for its work.
"On April 4, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted President Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Since the indictments, two of Authentic Campaigns' top clients-Representative Adam Schiff and the Senate Majority PAC-have raised 'at least $93 million in campaign donations' while referencing the indictments in their solicitation emails. Notably, according to one report, Representative Schiff's campaign for U.S. Senate has received '$20 million in aid since he began soliciting donations off the presumptive GOP presidential front-runner's unprecedented 34-count indictment last April.' The Senate Majority PAC similarly has 'pocketed $73.6 million since it also began firing off fundraising emails following the ex-president's indictment.' At a minimum, there is a perception that you and Authentic Campaigns could profit considerably from President Trump's prosecution in a forum overseen by your father.
"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. Among other fundamental errors, Judge Merchan admitted into evidence plainly inadmissible, irrelevant, and prejudicial testimony against President Trump, while limiting President Trump's ability to rebut it. Judge Merchan issued a gag order to prohibit President Trump from making statements about the judge's family members, including you and your political advocacy work on behalf of Democrats. Judge Merchan refused to recuse himself, despite his close ties to Democrat aligned interests and the likelihood that your political advocacy firm could benefit financially from his rulings. Judge Merchan's bias was so obvious that one former federal prosecutor, a left-wing legal analyst, disagreed forcefully with Judge Merchan's decision not to recuse, stating that he 'absolutely should have recused himself[.]'
"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. Congress has a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents, especially in venues in which real or perceived biases exist. 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."
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