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Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case

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Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case
News

News

Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case

2024-08-15 00:28 Last Updated At:00:30

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has lost his latest bid for a new judge in his New York hush money criminal case as it heads toward a key ruling and potential sentencing next month.

In a decision posted Wednesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan declined to step aside and said Trump's demand was a rehash “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about his ability to remain impartial.

It is the third time that Merchan has rejected such a request from lawyers for the former president and current Republican nominee. They contend the judge has a conflict of interest because his daughter works as a political consultant for prominent Democrats, including Kamala Harris when she sought the Democrats' 2020 presidential nomination. Harris is now the party’s nominee against Trump.

The judge's daughter, Loren Merchan, met Harris occasionally in 2019 but never “developed an individual relationship” with her, consulting firm founder Mike Nellis told the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a letter Tuesday. The firm, Authentic Campaigns Inc., has not worked for Harris’ campaign, President Joe Biden’s now-ended reelection bid or the Democratic National Committee in the 2024 election cycle, Nellis said.

A state court ethics panel said last year that Merchan could continue as the judge on Trump's case. The panel wrote that a relative’s independent political activities are not “a reasonable basis to question the judge’s impartiality."

Merchan, a state court judge in Manhattan, acknowledged last year that he made several small donations to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign, including $15 to Biden. But Merchan has repeatedly said he is certain he can handle Trump's case fairly and impartially. In his ruling, Merchan wrote he will continue to base decisions “on the evidence and the law, without fear or favor, casting aside undue influence.”

“With these fundamental principles in mind, this Court now reiterates for the third time, that which should already be clear — innuendo and mischaracterizations do not a conflict create,” Merchan wrote in his three-page decision. “Recusal is therefore not necessary, much less required.”

But with Harris now Trump’s opponent, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued in a letter to the judge last month that the defense’s concerns have become “even more concrete.”

Prosecutors called the claims “a vexatious and frivolous attempt to relitigate” the issue.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, citing Merchan's donation to Biden and Loren Merchan's consulting work, slammed him as a “highly-conflicted judge" who "should have long ago recused himself from this case."

Merchan “has proved to be biased against President Trump and beholden to not only Democrat partisan interests, but also to the glaring financial interests of an immediate family member,” Cheung said.

Trump railed against Merchan on his Truth Social platform for continuing to keep him under a partial gag order — an issue that was not part of the recusal decision. Earlier this month, a state appeals court upheld the gag order, which bars Trump from making public comments about the prosecution team, court staffers or their families, including Merchan’s daughter.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment.

Trump was convicted in May of falsifying his business’ records to conceal a 2016 deal to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with him. Prosecutors cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him during his first campaign.

Trump says all the stories were false, the business records were not and the case was a political maneuver meant to damage his current campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.

Trump has pledged to appeal, but that can't happen until he is sentenced.

In the meantime, his lawyers have taken other steps to try to derail the case. Besides the recusal request, they've asked Merchan to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July presidential immunity ruling.

That decision reins in prosecutions of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors in pointing to official acts as evidence that a president’s unofficial actions were illegal. Trump’s lawyers argue that in light of the ruling, jurors in the hush money case should not have heard such evidence as former White House staffers describing how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the Daniels deal.

Merchan has said he will rule on the immunity claim on Sept. 16 and set Sept. 18 for “the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate.”

Jordan, the House committee chairman, sent a letter to Loren Merchan on Aug. 1 demanding she turn over any documents pertaining to the Harris and Biden campaigns, any discussions she or her firm may have had about Trump’s hush money prosecution, and any conversations she may have had with her father about the case.

Jordan suggested that because some Authentic clients have mentioned Trump's case in fundraising solicitations, there was at least “a perception” that Loren Merchan and the firm could profit from it. But Nellis, the firm's founder, said it does not get a percentage of any money its clients raise and that “neither Authentic nor Ms. Merchan benefits financially from any rulings in Donald Trump’s criminal or civil trials.”

The judge’s daughter, who became a partner in the firm after 2019, has had only “minimal input or contact with any political clients” this cycle and wasn’t aware of any client communications that mentioned Trump’s trial, Nellis added.

Anything she may have said to her father about the criminal case would have been “for the purpose of confirming her and her family’s well-being and safety,” Nellis wrote. He noted that she had faced death threats and that law enforcement had advised her and her family to leave their home several times “for their own safety.”

The hush money case is one of four criminal prosecutions brought against Trump last year.

One federal case, accusing Trump of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was dismissed last month. The Justice Department is appealing.

The others — federal and Georgia state cases concerning Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss — are not positioned to go to trial before the November election.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Mont., Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Mont., Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case

Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case

Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case

Judge rejects Donald Trump's latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.

Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0. Another pick, John Ratcliffe for CIA director, is also expected to have a swift vote, as soon as Tuesday. Action on others, including former combat veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, is possible later in the week.

“Marco Rubio is a very intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy,” Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior-most Republican, said as the chamber opened.

It’s often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new president’s team in place, particularly the national security officials. During Trump’s first term, the Senate swiftly confirmed his defense and homeland security secretaries on day one, and President Joe Biden’s choice for director of national intelligence was confirmed on his own Inauguration Day.

With Trump’s return to the White House, and his Republican Party controlling majorities in Congress, his outsider Cabinet choices are more clearly falling into place, despite initial skepticism and opposition from both sides of the aisle.

Rubio, who was surrounded by colleagues in the Senate chamber, said afterward he feels “good, but there’s a lot of work ahead.”

“It’s an important job in an important time, and I’m honored by it,” Rubio said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved quickly Monday, announcing he expected voting to begin “imminently” on Trump’s nominees.

Democrats have calculated it's better for them to be seen as more willing to work with Trump, rather than simply mounting a blockade to his nominees. They're holding their opposition for some of his other picks who have less support, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said his party will “neither rubber-stamp nominees we feel are grossly unqualified, nor oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration.”

Rubio, he said, is an example of "a qualified nominee we think should be confirmed quickly."

Senate committees have been holding lengthy confirmation hearings on more than a dozen of the Cabinet nominees, with more to come this week. And several panels are expected to meet late Monday to begin voting to advance the nominees to the full Senate for confirmation.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously advanced Rubio's nomination late Monday. The Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee, respectively, voted to move the nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe. And the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee advanced nominees Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary and Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, but with opposition.

Rubio, a well-liked senator and former Trump rival during the 2016 presidential race, has drawn closer to the president in recent years. He appeared last week to answer questions before the Foreign Relations Committee, where he has spent more than a decade as a member.

As secretary of state, Rubio would be the nation’s top diplomat, and the first Latino to hold the position. Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, he has long been involved in foreign affairs, particularly in South America, and has emerged as a hawk on China’s rise.

During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio warned of the consequences of America’s “unbalanced relationship” with China. While he echoes Trump’s anti-globalist rhetoric, Rubio is also seen as an internationalist who understands the power of U.S. involvement on the global stage.

Rubio cultivated bipartisan support from across the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats. He takes over for outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has said he hopes the Trump administration continues Biden's policies in the Middle East to end the war in Gaza and to help Ukraine counter Russian nomination.

The Senate is split 53-47, but the resignation of Vice President JD Vance and, soon, Rubio drops the GOP majority further until their successors arrive. Republicans need almost all every party member in line to overcome Democratic opposition to nominees.

Objection from any one senator, as is expected with Hegseth and several other choices, would force the Senate into procedural steps that would drag voting later into the week.

Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, other nominees and appointments, pose for a photo at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. First row from left, Elise Stefanik, John Ratcliffe, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Howard Lutnick, Pete Hegseth, Doug Burgum, Brooke L. Rollins, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; second row from left, Scott Turner, Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Duffy, Linda McMahon, Lee Zeldin, Kristi Noem, Chris Wright, Doug Collins, Kelly Loeffler and Scott Bessent; and third row from left, Stephen Miran, Jamieson Greer, Kevin Hassett, Kash Patel and Russell Vought. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, other nominees and appointments, pose for a photo at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. First row from left, Elise Stefanik, John Ratcliffe, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Howard Lutnick, Pete Hegseth, Doug Burgum, Brooke L. Rollins, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; second row from left, Scott Turner, Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Duffy, Linda McMahon, Lee Zeldin, Kristi Noem, Chris Wright, Doug Collins, Kelly Loeffler and Scott Bessent; and third row from left, Stephen Miran, Jamieson Greer, Kevin Hassett, Kash Patel and Russell Vought. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a nominee for Secretary of State, attends the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a nominee for Secretary of State, attends the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

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