Stefanik urges recusal of trial judge in Trump’s hush money case

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is demanding the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York to recuse himself from the case over allegations his daughter is using the indictment for financial gain.

In an ethics complaint submitted to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct on Tuesday, Stefanik is urging Judge Juan Merchan to step down from the case over allegations his daughter is leveraging the trial to make money through her fundraising agency. The complaint comes as other House Republicans have also targeted Merchan over his daughter’s politics, deeming it a conflict of interest.

“Judge Merchan currently presides over the criminal case against President Donald J. Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” Stefanik wrote in the complaint. “If convicted, President Trump faces a maximum of 136 years’ imprisonment. Moreover, he is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for this November’s presidential election. As such, not only are President Trump’s interests at stake, the interests of all Americans are at stake.”

Stefanik, a fierce Trump supporter who is vying for a chance to be his vice presidential pick, filed the compliant as the case is about to close and when little could be done in terms of recusal.

Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is the president of Authentic Campaigns, a digital marketing and fundraising agency aligned with several Democratic lawmakers and political action committees. Shortly after Trump’s initial indictment in April 2023 in the hush-money trial, a number of Democrats were quick to use the charges in fundraising material — including clients whom Loren Merchan represented.

Stefanik cited a fundraising email sent by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for his Senate bid, in which the California Democrat used Trump’s indictment to request donations.

“It is a somber moment, and unprecedented for a former president to be indicted, but his alleged offenses are unprecedented,” the email stated. “Trump will respond as he always does— playing the victim and blaming others for having the temerity to investigate him in the first place.”

Stefanik also pointed to fundraising emails by the Senate Majority PAC, also represented by Authentic Campaigns, that made a similar fundraising plea.

Since then, both Schiff and the committee have raised approximately $20 million and $73.6 million, respectively, according to the complaint.

“In other words, the clients of Judge Merchan’s daughter have raked in nearly $100 million and have used President Trump’s indictment — a case over which her father presides — as fundraising fodder,” Stefanik wrote. “It is common sense that, if these groups make no money, they cannot afford to pay for services provided by individuals such as Ms. Merchan. The more money raised, the more it can be spent on services.”

Stefanik argued Merchan is required to recuse himself from the case under Rules of Judicial Conduct for the New York State Unified Court System, which state that a judge is disqualified from a case if he or she, or a person that is closely connected to them, “has an interest that could be substantially affected by the proceeding.”

Stefanik argued that because a conviction of Trump would likely lead to a “fundraising windfall” for Democrats, including Merchan’s daughter, he must remove himself from the case to avoid a conflict of interest. If he does not, she argued, any decision in the case could call into question the “court’s appearance of impartiality.”

“It is imperative that New Yorkers and all Americans have confidence that justice is being dispensed fairly in New York,” the complaint states. “This is especially true in politically sensitive cases where bias is most likely to rear its ugly head. Here, we are in the middle of a presidential election campaign. The circumstances are unprecedented: President Trump, a former president and the likely nominee of a major party for the presidency, is on trial.”

The complaint comes as Trump enters his sixth week of his hush-money trial, the first criminal indictment of a former president in U.S. history.

The New York case focuses on 34 counts of falsifying business records, which came shortly after Michael Cohen testified before a grand jury last year detailing his 2018 conviction when he pleaded guilty to paying two women who accused Trump of sexual affairs to be silent, including porn star Stormy Daniels.

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As part of the scheme, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 and was later reimbursed by the Trump Organization. Manhattan prosecutors later opened an investigation into whether Trump falsified business records to list the reimbursement as a legal expense.

The Washington Examiner contacted a spokesperson for both the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and Merchan for comment.