Lawyers for former President Donald Trump made a last-minute move on Monday to sue the judge presiding over his criminal hush money case a week before the trial is slated to begin, according to court records.
The lawsuit was not available to the public, but online records showed Trump attorney Todd Blanche was filing an action against New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. Related paperwork is sealed for the time being, according to the online docket.
Trump’s complaint against Merchan comes as the former president has tried at every opportunity to delay his April 15 trial over the 34-count indictment accusing him of concealing a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Attorneys filed to an appeals court in a bid to delay the trial and challenge a gag order that Merchan recently imposed on Trump, which prevents him from verbally attacking prosecutors, witnesses, and the families of prosecutors and the judge.
