Elise Stefanik seeks investigation of judge overseeing Trump's hush-money trial

By 
 May 29, 2024

Judge Juan Merchan delivered instructions on Tuesday to the jury in former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money case.

Yet while Trump has been subjected to a years-long investigation, one conservative lawmaker says it is Merchan who needs to be looked at. 

Congresswoman questions how Merchan was assigned to Trump case

According to the Washington Examiner, that suggestion was put forward in a letter sent on Tuesday by New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

"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," Stefanik wrote.

"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," she continued.

In addition to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Stefanik also addressed her letter to Kay-Ann Porter Campbell, who serves as inspector general of the New York State Unified Court System.

Judge presided over other cases connected to Trump

Stefanik recalled how the Uniform Rules for New York State Trial Courts stipulate that judges are to be assigned via "a method of random selection authorized by the Chief Administrator."

However, the congresswoman pointed out that Merchan has had more involvement with Trump than one would expect to see from a truly random process.

This included the Trump Organization's 2022 fraud trial as well as the money laundering case against former Trump advisor Steve Bannon that same year.

"If justices were indeed being randomly assigned in the Criminal Term, the probability of two specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is quite low, and the probability of three specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is infinitesimally small," Stefanik pointed out before adding, "And yet, we see Acting Justice Merchan on all three cases."

Stefanik previously filed complaint over judge's daughter

This is not the first time Stefanik has gone after Merchang, as Fox News reported earlier this month that she filed an ethics complaint over the judge's daughter.

Loren Merchan is chief operating officer and president of Authentic Campaigns, a Democrat-aligned political consulting firm that used Trump's trial in a fundraising campaign.

The company's website explains that its clients have included President Joe Biden, Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, and California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson
© 2015 - 2024 Conservative Institute. All Rights Reserved.