NEW YORK —
Donald Trump has lost his latest bid to have a new judge appointed in his New York trial over allegations he paid to suppress unfavorable news.
In a decision released Wednesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan declined to step aside, saying Trump’s lawsuit was redundant and “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about Merchan’s daughter’s political ties and her ability to impartially and fairly deliver justice.
This is the third time the judge has rejected a similar request from the lawyers of the former president and current Republican presidential candidate.
All three times, the lawyers argued that the judge has a conflict of interest because his daughterLoren Merchan works as a political consultant for Democratic candidates. Among them was Vice President Kamala Harris when she sought the presidential nomination in 2020. Harris is now the Democratic nominee for president.
A state ethics commission said last year that Merchan could continue presiding over the case, writing that a relative’s independent political activities are not “a reasonable basis for questioning a judge’s impartiality.”
Merchan has repeatedly stated that it will continue to base its decisions “on evidence and the law, without fear or favor, leaving aside any inappropriate influence.”
“With these fundamental principles in mind, this court now reiterates for the third time something that should have already been clear: innuendo and misrepresentation do not create a conflict of interest,” Merchan wrote in his three-page ruling. “Recusal, therefore, is not necessary, much less required.”
But now that Harris is Trump’s rival in the electionsTrump attorney Todd Blanche wrote in a letter to the judge last month that the defense’s concerns “have become more concrete.”
Prosecutors called Trump’s complaints “a confused and frivolous attempt to re-litigate” the issue.
Blanche has not responded to messages seeking comment on the judge’s ruling. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is handling the case, declined to comment.
Trump was found guilty in May of falsifying business documents to conceal a 2016 agreement to pay porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an intimate encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006.
Prosecutors portrayed the deal as part of a scheme to keep voters from hearing unfavorable news about the Republican candidate.
Trump says the stories were all false, that his company’s documents were fine and that the case is a political stunt to hurt his current campaign. The prosecutor who prosecuted the case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is a Democrat.
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