Republicans should attend Trump’s Manhattan trial daily

Ohio Sen. J. D. Vance reminded the public on Monday that the judge overseeing the Manhattan lawfare case against former President Donald Trump has a daughter who is a Democrat political operative. It’s an entirely true statement, yet it’s one Trump is prohibited from making himself thanks to a gag order from partisan Judge Juan Merchan — which is why congressional Republicans must show up daily to serve as a voice for the former president and 2024 front-runner.

“The thing that the president is prevented from saying, which is a disgrace, is that every single person involved in this prosecution is practically a Democratic political operative. The judge inside, his daughter is making millions of dollars running against Donald Trump, raising money for Donald Trump’s political opponents,” Vance said outside the courthouse. Notably, Judge Merchan himself donated to Biden’s campaign.

Vance’s comments echoed those of Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who joined Trump last week when pornographer Stormy Daniels took the stand. Scott also noted that the daughter of the judge overseeing the case “is a political operative and raises money for Democrats.”

Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is reportedly president of the Chicago-based political consulting firm Authentic Campaigns, whose clients include Russia hoaxer Adam Schiff and the Senate Majority PAC. Both Schiff and the Senate Majority PAC have used the Manhattan-based indictment against Trump to fundraise, according to the New York Post. Loren Merchan also worked for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Judge Merchan has refused to recuse himself despite requests from Trump’s team.

Vance’s appearance came on the same day that convicted felon Michael Cohen took the stand. Cohen lied to a Senate committee in 2017, then pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying to Congress. He also told the public he did not commit tax evasions “despite having told a federal judge, U.S. District Judge William Pauley, in court that he had,” Politico reported. Federal prosecutors said they had “substantial concerns about Cohen’s credibility as a witness” and that after Cohen was sentenced, he “made material false statements” while meeting with prosecutors and the FBI, Politico reported.

But Trump is prohibited from noting those facts as well, meaning he needs fellow Republicans like Vance and others to remind the public that the so-called justice system is corrupted by partisan actors, including the lead prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, who campaigned on targeting Trump once in office.

“Does any reasonable, sensible person believe anything that Michael Cohen says? I don’t think that they should,” Vance rightfully asked during his press briefing.

“To all the American voters and American people who are watching this, the one opportunity you get to speak up against this sham prosecution and to say the American people elect their president, not corrupt DNC prosecutors, is to vote for Donald Trump in November,” Vance said.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., also appeared alongside Vance, with Tuberville decrying the “mental anguish” being “pushed on” Trump.

“This is New York City, the icon of our country, and we got a courtroom that’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever been in,” Tuberville said. “Mental anguish is trying to be pushed on Republican candidate for the president of the United States this year — that’s all this is.”

The trio’s appearance at the courthouse brings the grand total of Republican members of Congress who have visited Manhattan to witness the political persecution of Trump to four.

Unity among Republicans in the face of lawfare has been sorely absent — despite there being a total of 49 Republican senators and 217 Republican representatives, including 10 total from New York.

The lack of appearances from fellow Republicans, however, though shameful, is not surprising given the near radio silence from GOP Senate leadership, including Mitch McConnell, when Trump was first hit with a series of indictments.

When Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg first indicted Trump on 34 felony counts for which he currently sits in a courthouse, McConnell “refused to condemn the overt weaponization of law enforcement,” as my colleague Tristan Justice pointed out. When McConnell finally spoke out, he called for increasing funding for federal law enforcement agencies.

McConnell’s absence was so notable during the second indictment that CNN headlined a piece: “On Trump indictment, Senate GOP leaders silent while top House Republicans vow payback.”

When Trump was indicted for a third time by Special Counsel Jack Smith, Justice noted that it was Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso of Wyoming acting as the lone wolf in calling out the “two-tiered system of justice” and the weaponization of “the justice system against” a political opponent.