DA condemns Trump’s third push for judge's recusal in hush money trial, Internet calls it 'a disgrace'

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: The Manhattan district attorney’s office is pushing back at the third attempt by former president Donald Trump to recuse the  judge overseeing his hush money criminal case.

Trump once again failed to identify any new facts or circumstances that would justify his third attempt to have his case recused by the judge, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in a court filing made public on Friday, August 2.

Donald Trump's third recusal motion called 'vexatious and frivolous attempt'

Prosecutors, in the filing, urged Judge Juan Merchan to deny Donald Trump's third recusal motion.

“Defendant’s motion to renew is a vexatious and frivolous attempt to relitigate an issue that was twice addressed by this Court in orders that the First Department then refused to disturb,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in a letter made public. 

"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, according to The Hill. 

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.

Judge Merchan denied Trump’s similar recusal demands last August and another on the first day of this trial which ended in the first criminal conviction of Trump.

Trump’s push comes as he awaits his September sentencing which was delayed several months after the Supreme Court issued its ruling on presidential immunity. 

Donald Trump's criminal conviction

Donald 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. 

Trump has previously taken offense at Merchan's daughter Loren for her work for well-known Democrats like Harris. A gag order has prevented the former president from discussing her in public for months.

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.

Trump also lost his appeal on Thursday, August 1, when a panel of five judges from New York's mid-level appeals court rejected Trump's argument the gag order was no longer necessary since the former president's trial concluded.

"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. 

Internet reacts to DA's office push back on Donald Trump's request for recusal 

Internet reactions to Donald Trump's third attempt for seeking recusal getting pushed back were mixed.

"What a disgrace! Hopefully, he will be the first former president to receive a prison sentence. In this case, probation or a fine would've been more appropriate, but his constant disrespect should get him jail time," commented one user on Facebook.

"If anyone should be recused, it’s Aileen Cannon. How on earth is a judge allowed to preside over a defendant who was the very person who appointed that judge???????" wrote another.

"For me he the worsts former president ever we had," wrote one.

"Manhattan DA is a corrupt, compromised Democrat politician...," slammed one X user. Another wrote, "Everything goes on the record. If the judge refuses, the appeals court will look at everything and make their decisions."

One wrote "Democrats gone ROGUE."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.