SPURNED: Appeals court REJECTS Trump’s demand for recusal of Judge Merchan
Judge Juan Merchan is not recusing himself from Donald Trump’s criminal case, and an appeals court is not planning to help Trump delay the case and dodge responsibility, either. The former president/defendant just got a rejection notice, with the court declining again to intervene.
At the beginning of a day that’s already going badly for Trump in court, with $9,000 levied in fines for violating a gag order, the former president received more bad news. After Trump’s legal team failed to pressure Merchan into stepping away from the case, they appealed, but according to Law360‘s Stewart Bishop, the court responded to the motion on Tuesday, ruling against Trump.
Trump has argued that Judge Merchan should not be able to preside over the case because his daughter works in political consulting and has served Democratic clients. Before making a decision, Judge Merchan consulted the Judicial Ethics Board, which agreed that his family’s occupations had nothing to do with the case.
Hours before the decision came down, Trump was outside the courtroom reiterating his complaints, calling the trial a “scam” and declaring, “The judge should be recused, and he should recuse himself today.”
President Trump: "They took me off the campaign trail, but the good news is my poll numbers are there highest they've ever been…Everybody knows this trial is a scam." pic.twitter.com/JLu3qdLHsB
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) April 30, 2024
Trump’s repeated requests for a recusal may be a delay tactic, but there’s also speculation they could be an effort to evade the gag order by using legal filings to continue making attacks on Merchan’s daughter.
That risk just increased, since Trump is now on notice that further violations of the gag order could result in jail time.
Trump had renewed his efforts to pester Merchan into a recusal earlier this month after he earned enough delegates to be cemented as the Republican nominee for the 2024 election (although it won’t be formalized until the convention in July).
Trump argued that this changed the situation enough to justify repeating his demand. CNN reported at the time:
“Judge Juan Merchan denied the motion for recusal and says he won’t consider it again until the appellate court rules. Merchan says it’s the opinion of the court that Trump is using a “series of inferences, innuendos and unsupported speculation” to make his claims for recusal.”
Trump has not, as of this writing, publicly responded to yet another loss, but we can expect him to vent to reporters when the court recesses.
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