Last month, Donald Trump’s former attorneys once again requested New York Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from presiding over the “hush money” case due to the conflict of interest created by his daughter’s Democratic political activism.
On Wednesday, for the third time, Judge Merchan rejected the request and maintained that his daughter’s partisanship did not influence his decision-making in the case.
This sets the stage for a sentencing hearing scheduled for mid-September, where Merchan may consider ordering Trump to serve a prison term following a guilty verdict in May on 34 felony counts of business records falsification.
In late July, Trump’s attorneys reiterated concerns about a conflict of interest due to Judge Merchan’s daughter’s political advertising and consultancy work supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a three-page decision released Wednesday, Merchan cited previous denials of recusal requests and an Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics’ opinion stating that the political activities of a judge’s relatives were not grounds for recusal.
The decision also called for an end to the Trump gag order previously upheld by an appellate court.
“This argument does not merit extensive discussion since it does not credibly purport to support the motion for recusal. Rather, it would appear to be nothing more than an attempt to air grievances against this Court’s rulings,” Merchan wrote. “Defendant has litigated this Court’s Order Restricting Extrajudicial Statements numerous times, not only with this Court, but with New York’s appellate courts as well.”
“Defendant’s second argument is that the alleged relationship between Vice President Kamala Harris and a member of this Court’s family warrants recusal. The Court notes that this same argument was already made by Defendant in his first two motions for recusal,” he continued. “However, Defendant contends that the alleged conflict is mote egregious now that Vice President I(amala Harris has been elevated to “Presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party” for President.”
Seeing “no need to repeat the legal analysis” of the prior recusal rejections, Judge Merchan wrote, “Stated plainly, Defendant’s arguments are nothing more than a repetition of stale and unsubstantiated claims.”
“This Court now reiterates for the third time, that which should already be clear — innuendo and mischaracterizations do not a conflict create. Recusal
is therefore not necessary, much less required,” he continued and further noted, “As has been the standard throughout the pendency of this case, this Court will continue to base its rulings on the evidence and the law, without fear or favor, casting aside undue influence.”
“Defendant has provided nothing new for this Court to consider. Counsel has merely repeated arguments that have already been denied by this and higher courts,” Merchan added. “Defense Counsel’s reliance, and apparent citation to his own prior affirmation, rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims, is unavailing. As such, Defendant’s motion is again DENIED.”
The Hill reported that in response to Judge Merchan’s decision, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, “The acting Justice has consistently and recklessly displayed his personal bias against President Trump throughout the case, including issuing an illegal, unconstitutional, and election-interfering Gag Order against the President and his campaign, and admitting constitutionally prohibited ‘evidence’ at trial.”
“The Highly-Conflicted Judge should have long ago recused himself from this case,” the spokesman added.
According to Newsweek, Merchan’s decision paves the way for the judge to likely reject Trump’s claimed immunity from prosecution, based on the recent Supreme Court ruling, and proceed to sentencing on September 18.
There is strong suspicion among some that, less than two months before the election, Merchan will order the GOP nominee to serve time in prison.
This would give Democrats and media the opportunity to label him as a “convicted felon sentenced to prison.”
However, it is unlikely that Trump will be immediately incarcerated due to the high probability of an immediate appeal and the potential grant of bail or an emergency stay pending that appeal.
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