Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) continued his assaults on the daughter of the judge handling former President Trump’s criminal prosecution on Sunday, claiming she is a “political operative.”
Scott was in New York City on Thursday to support Trump in his criminal case, where he faces over 34 felony counts of manipulating business documents in an attempt to conceal a previous affair before the 2016 election.
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In front of the courtroom, Scott insulted Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter, claiming she was a Democratic operative whose work affected the judge’s impartiality. Trump has made similar comments in the past, but Merchan chastised him after he extended a gag order in the case.
“The judge’s daughter is a political operative who raises funds for Democrats,” Scott stated in New York.
When asked in a “Fox News Sunday” interview why he personally pursued someone who isn’t in politics, Scott doubled down.
“The Democrats are using the court system to go after and prosecute, criminally, a political opponent,” Scott stated. “They’re just thugs trying to stop Trump from being able to run for president.”
“The judge’s daughter is a big Democrat fundraiser,” he explained. “Everybody involved in this is part of the Democratic machine. It looks terrible.”
Loren Merchan, the daughter, previously worked at a progressive consulting firm and practiced law for Democratic-aligned nonprofits.
People generally criticized Trump’s prior assaults on Merchan as needless and overly personal. A later hearing revealed that some of Trump’s early claims were based on falsehoods peddled by fake news accounts.
At the time, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) criticized the former president, saying “families should always be off-limits.”
Trump’s remarks were part of an effort to get Judge Merchan to recuse himself from the case, which he did not do.
The trial continues this week, after several of the case’s key witnesses spoke in court last week. It is unclear whether Trump himself will testify.
