A New York judge has for the third time denied a request to recuse himself from hearing the case of Donald Trump, who was found guilty on charges associated with hush money that went to pay off a porn star at his trial. The claim of a conflict of interest meanwhile, which Trump felt should have been lodged due to the judge daughter’s political consultancy work is dismissed by judge.
Justice Juan Merchan, as he did in April and August 2023, has again refused to recuse himself (from Trump), this time from a landmark case involving criminal charges against the first U.S. exec-in-sheeter,” they wrote. Trump is due to be sentenced on Sept.
“On May 30, a jury found Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. These charges stemmed from his efforts to cover up a $130,000 payment made by his former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent a sex scandal from emerging before the 2016 U.S. election.”
Livingston has offered nothing new for the court,” wrote Justice Juan Merchan in his decision dated just one week prior to this morning’s scheduled appeal. Counsel opens for reconsideration arguments previously denied by this Court (and well known in higher dismissals): riddled with inaccuracies and some wild coups.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA declined to comment.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung lashed out at the decision: “The highly conflicted Judge Ciavarella should have long ago recused himself from this case.
“On May 30, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, stemming from his cover-up of a $130,000 payment made by his former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent a sex scandal before the 2016 U.S. election.
Two months later, Trump’s lawyers made a third request for Justice Merchan to recuse himself, arguing that his daughter’s work for a political consultancy, which has served Democratic campaigns—including Kamala Harris’s unsuccessful bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination—posed a conflict of interest. Harris, now Vice President, is the Democratic candidate facing Republican nominee Trump in the upcoming November 5 U.S. election. Falsifying business records carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison, though fines or probation have been more common sentences for others convicted of the crime.
Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which brought the charges, dismissed Trump’s recusal request as a ‘frivolous’ attempt to revisit an issue that had already been resolved twice. In an August 1 court filing, they wrote, ‘No amount of overheated, hyperbolic rhetoric can cure the fatal defects in the defendant’s ongoing effort to impugn the fairness of these proceedings.’
The payment to Daniels was made to secure her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she claims to have had with Trump a decade earlier, an allegation Trump has denied. Despite the scandal, Trump went on to win the presidency, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Merchan had previously rejected a recusal request in April before jury selection, as well as a similar request last year, after an ethics panel determined that his daughter’s work did not raise reasonable questions about the judge’s impartiality.
During the trial, Trump took to his social media platform to disparage Merchan as a ‘highly conflicted’ overseer of a ‘kangaroo court.’ Prior to the trial, Trump also claimed on social media that Merchan’s daughter ‘profits by working to “Get Trump,”‘ comments that contributed to Merchan’s decision to extend a gag order, prohibiting the former president from publicly commenting on the family members of court staff or prosecutors.
Separately, Trump’s lawyers have asked the judge to dismiss his conviction in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling, which grants former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for official acts taken while in office. Merchan has stated that he will rule on Trump’s arguments by September 16.”
“A New York judge has, for the third time, refused to recuse himself from the case in which Donald Trump was convicted on charges related to hush money payments made to a porn star.”