Judge Juan M. Merchan writes in a decision on Wednesday that he will not resign.
He describes Trump’s demands as “full of inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about the political ties to Merchan’s daughter and his ability to judge the case fairly and impartially.
It is the third time the judge has rejected such a request from Trump.
Worked for the Democrats
The ex-president’s lawyers have argued each time that Merchan has a conflict of interest because his daughter has worked as a political consultant for several Democratic candidates and election campaigns.
Among other things, she worked for the election campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris when she stood in the Democratic nomination election in 2020. Now she is Trump’s opponent in the presidential election.
A court in the state of New York concluded last year that Merchan can continue in the case. It wrote that a relative’s independent political activity is not a reasonable basis for questioning whether a judge is impartial.
Merchan has said he is confident he will base his decisions on “the evidence and the law, without fear or favor and without being swayed by undue influence.”
Sentenced in May
On May 30, Trump was convicted of 34 violations of the Accounting Act in connection with a payment of $130,000, just over NOK 1.4 million, to Stephanie Clifford, better known as the porn actress Stormy Daniels.
The sentencing in the so-called bribery case was postponed until 18 September following a ruling in the US Supreme Court in July.
The so-called hush money was paid via Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen just before the presidential election in 2016, allegedly so that Clifford would keep a close eye on the fact that she and Trump had had sex in a hotel ten years earlier.
Trump has denied both having sex with Daniels and having done anything illegal.
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2024-08-15 08:43:42
