(PatriotNewsDaily.com) – Juan Merchan, the New York Supreme Court acting Justice who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s New York case regarding falsifying business documents in a hush-money case has rejected Trump’s requests for recusal.
In June, Trump had called for Merchan to step down from this case, pointing out that his daughter’s employment in a progressive digital agency and the fact that he had been a part of other cases related to Trump’s business caused a conflict of interest.
Trump pointed out that Merchan had made a political donation to President Biden and demanded an explanation regarding the payment.
However, Merchan in a six-page decision stated that after receiving guidance from the judicial ethics advisory committee about this case he was rejecting all of the requests filed by Trump. Merchan will be overseeing the case against Trump which relates to a hush money payment made on Trump’s behalf by Michael Cohen, his then-fixer, to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Cohen had given Daniels $130,000 prior to the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump.
Trump has pleaded not guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records connected to the payment. Since his indictment, he has repeatedly slammed Merchan both on social media and in speeches. The trial date has been set as March 2024 for this case.
In his ruling Merchan confirmed that his daughter was working at Authentic Campaigns which is helping in Biden’s reelection campaign. However, the judge claimed that the ethics committee had noted that there is nothing to suggest that this case could in any way affect the judge’s relative’s business or position.
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