On Wednesday, August 28, Loren Merchan, the daughter of New York Judge Juan Merchan, was hit with a subpoena from the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee. The subpoena comes amid allegations that her work with political adversaries of former President Donald Trump influenced the rulings of her father, Judge Muerchan, in the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against the former president.
As background, Loren Merchan serves as the president of a company called Authentic Campaigns. It works on behalf of top Democrat politicians, such as President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and California Congressman Rep. Adam Schiff. The House Judiciary Committee appears to suspect that her work might have led to a conflict of interest in the case.
The House Judiciary Committee announced the subpoena in a tweet saying “SUBPOENAED” and a letter sent to Mr. Michael Nellis, who is the founder and CEO of Authentic Campaigns. In the letter, the committee noted that Nellis did not comply with past requests for documents or to otherwise comply voluntarily, and so the committee would use its legal powers to compel the company to comply.
The letter began by noting the subject of the probe, stating, “On August 1, 2024, the Committee on the Judiciary wrote to Loren Merchan, the President of Authentic Campaigns, requesting information and documents to advance the Committee’s oversight of the Manhattan District Attorney’s political prosecution of President Donald J. Trump.”
Continuing the committee noted that he had failed to comply voluntarily, even when his concerns were addressed and the request articulated. “You responded on August 13, 2024, declining to comply voluntarily with the Committee’s oversight or provide any requested documents. On August 16, 2024, the Committee wrote again to address your articulated concerns and to reiterate its August 1 requests,” the letter said.
The committee’s letter then noted that, as voluntary compliance from Nellis and Authentic Campaigns had not been forthcoming, compulsory processes would be used to compel him. It said, “On August 23, 2024, you again declined to comply with the Committee’s oversight and requests. As such, the Committee is left with no choice but to resort to compulsory process.”
Returning to the subject of the probe, the letter stated, “As we made clear in our August 1 and August 16 letters, the Committee is continuing to conduct oversight of politically motivated prosecutions by state and local officials. 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.”
In conclusion, it noted why information about Loren Merchan is necessary for the probe, telling Mr. Nellis, “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.’One such conflict is Ms. Merchan’s-daughter of Judge Merchan and President of Authentic Campaigns-work on behalf of President Trump’s political adversaries and the possible financial benefit that Ms. Merchan and Authentic Campaigns received from the prosecution and conviction of President Trump.”
In the subpoena itself, the House Judiciary Committee said, “In accordance with the attached Schedule instructions, you, Michael Nellis, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Authentic Campaigns Inc. (Authentic Campaigns), are required to produce the following items in your possession, custody, or control in unredacted form: 1. All documents and communications referring or relating to any work performed by Authentic Campaigns that refers to the indictment, prosecution, or conviction of President Donald J. Trump for the period April 1, 2023, to the present; and 2. All documents and communications between or among Authentic Campaigns or any of its employees, agents, or representatives and Judge Juan Merchan or any of his employees or representatives referring or relating to the indictment, prosecution, or conviction of President Donald J. Trump for the period April 1, 2023, to the present.”
Mr. Nellis, responding to the subpoena on X, wrote, “BREAKING: We have just received a subpoena from Jim Jordan and the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee. 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. We are thoroughly reviewing the subpoena with our legal team and will provide updates as soon as we have more information.”
He added, “Let us be clear: these allegations against our company are completely false and purely politically motivated. This is a blatant attempt to intimidate us and divert attention from Donald Trump’s conviction. We refuse to be bullied, and we will not allow House Republicans or MAGA extremists to spread lies about our work. We remain steadfast in our mission and are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of our friends and family during this time.”
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