A New York judge has rejected for the third time the request to recuse himself from the case in which Donald Trump has been indicted on charges related to payments made to buy the silence of a pornographic film actress, dismissing the former president's claim of a conflict of interest regarding the judge's daughter working at a political consulting firm.
In a repeat of actions taken in April and August 2023, Judge Juan Merchan, in a ruling issued on Wednesday, declined the request from Trump's attorneys for him to step back from the case that involves criminal charges against a former U.S. president. Merchan is set to issue his ruling on Trump on September 18.
In the ruling dated August 13, Merchan wrote: "The defendant has not presented anything new for this court to consider. The attorney has merely repeated arguments that this court and higher courts have already rejected, which were filled with misconceptions and unfounded allegations."
A jury found Trump guilty on May 30 of 34 criminal charges related to falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to avoid a sex scandal before the 2016 U.S. elections.
Two months later, his attorneys submitted their third request for Merchan to recuse himself, arguing that his daughter's work at a political consulting firm, which among its clients included Democratic campaign efforts such as the failed 2020 Democratic presidential nomination attempt by current Vice President Kamala Harris, represented a conflict of interest.
Falsifying business records is a crime punishable by up to four years in prison; however, penalties like fines or probation are more common for others convicted of this crime. Trump's lawyers separately requested that the judge dismiss his conviction in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July that grants former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for official acts performed while in office. Judge Merchan stated he would decide on Trump's arguments by September 16.
