As President Donald Trump awaits a decision from jurors in his New York City trial, Judge Juan Merchan is under even more scrutiny after repeatedly helping Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg win his case against defense attorneys.
...Yesterday was chilling as the judge allowed the prosecutors to engage in what some of us view as highly improper arguments. That included effectively testifying on facts not in the record. Merchan's view of "argument" was considerably broader for the prosecution than the…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 29, 2024
Late Tuesday, New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik filed a complaint with the New York State Unified Court System and questioned the "random" assignment of Merchan to Trump's case.
"I am writing to alert you to potential misconduct by Justices and employees of the Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County. The potential misconduct pertains to the repeated assignment of Acting Justice Juan Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to criminal cases related to President Donald J. Trump and his allies. Acting Justice Merchan currently presides over the criminal case against President Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Acting Justice Merchan also presided over the criminal trial against the Trump Organization and will be presiding over the criminal trial of Steve Bannon, a senior advisor in President Trump’s White House and a prominent advocate for President Trump," Stefanik wrote.
🚨🚨🚨 I just filed an official misconduct complaint with the New York State Unified Court System related to the “random” assignment of Acting Manhattan Justice Juan Merchan, a Biden donor whose daughter is fundraising millions off his unprecedented work, to criminal cases… pic.twitter.com/OsBjFc3qeI
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) May 28, 2024
"One cannot help but suspect that the “random selection” at work in the assignment of Acting Justice Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans, is in fact not random at all," she continued. "The simple answer to why Acting Justice Merchan has been assigned to these cases would seem to be that whoever made the assignment intentionally selected Acting Justice Merchan to handle them to increase the chance that Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Steven Bannon would ultimately be convicted."
"I request that both the Commission and the Inspector General investigate this anomaly to determine whether the required random selection process was in fact followed in the assignment of these criminal cases to Acting Justice Merchan. If Acting Justice Merchan or any other Justices of the Court are found to have violated these rules, I would hope that the Commission would subject them to the required discipline. And if any non-judicial employees of the Court are involved in such a scheme, I would hope that the Inspector General subject them to the appropriate sanction," Stefanik said.
Throughout the trial Merchan slapped Trump with a number of gag orders while allowing those testifying against him, including convicted felon Michael Cohen, to openly speak about the case.
Judge Juan Merchan's unconstitutional gag order violates President Trump's First Amendment rights and is clearly illegal.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) May 29, 2024
This morning, I sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting that he investigate Merchan's actions and consider prosecution for any criminal wrongdoing. pic.twitter.com/4SMbRc3Dgz
Further, Merchan's daughter is a Democratic activist raising millions of dollars off of the Trump trial on behalf of the left. Merchan is also a Democratic donor and contributed to President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. Trump was Biden's opponent then and is now in the 2024 presidential election.
"Two major Democratic clients of the daughter of the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush-money trial have raised at least $93 million in campaign donations — and used the case in their solicitation emails — raising renewed concerns that the jurist has a major conflict of interest," the New York Post reports. "The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is president of Authentic Campaigns, a Chicago-based progressive political consulting firm whose top clients include Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who was the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and the Senate Majority PAC, a major party fundraiser."
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