Fusion GPS demands pro-Trump judge recuse himself on bank subpoena after working for Trump transition

Fusion GPS, a political research firm targeted by Republicans because it produced a salacious Russian dossier on President Donald Trump, insisted this week that a judge should be removed from deciding a case because he had been a part of the Trump transition team.

In a letter to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, lawyers for Fusion GPS argued that Judge Trevor McFadden's "impartiality might reasonably be questioned" because of his work with the transition team.

The news was reported on Twitter by Natasha Bertrand.

According to Fusion GPS, the subpoena is thought to be a reaction to a lawsuit against Buzzfeed, which published the dossier and was then met with threats from Trump allies.

"Public information indicates that the [judge] 'volunteered as a vetter for President Trump's transition team,'" Fusion GPS writes of Judge McFadden. "President-elect Trump began making public statements expressing his animosity toward Fusion GPS and its work relating to the Trump dossier during the transition."

Last week, TD Bank reportedly turned over financial records on Fusion GPS to the House Intelligence Committee.

Fusion GPS contends that Republicans are targeting the company because it was paid to gather dirt on Trump during the election.

"The threat of retaliatory disclosure of confidential information in the records is not just theoretical, it is part of a pattern and an underlying purpose of the subpoena," lawyers for the company said in a statement to the court.