New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik wrote a letter to New York state officials alleging there may have been “irregularities” within the New York State Supreme Court system to ensure Judge Juan Marchan would preside over the unprecedented New York v. Trump trial.
“I cannot help but suspect that the ‘random selection’ of appointing Acting Judge Marchan, a Democratic donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans is in fact not random at all,” Stefanik wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Inspector General of the New York State Unified Court System warning of “potential misconduct.” The Daily Mail was first to report The letter was reported on Tuesday..
Stefanik noted that Melchan has overseen several cases involving Trump and his allies, including New York v. Trump, the 2022 criminal trial against the Trump Organization, in which the organization was convicted of tax evasion, and is also set to oversee the upcoming trial of Trump ally Steve Bannon.
“The simple answer as to why Acting Judge Marchan was assigned to these cases appears to be that whoever appointed her deliberately selected her to preside over these cases in order to increase the likelihood that Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Stephen Bannon would ultimately be convicted,” Stefanik continued in the letter.
Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump trial judge, citing daughter’s work for Democratic promotion group
Rep. Elise Stefanik, D-New York, spoke at the House Education and Labor Committee hearing, “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Anti-Semitism,” on Wednesday, April 17, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP/Maryam Zuhaib)
In her letter, she called on the committee and the inspector general to “investigate this anomaly to determine whether the required random selection process was in fact followed in the assignment of these criminal cases to Acting Judge Marchan.”
She further said that if Marchan or any other judge on the court breaches the appointment rules, she expects “the committee to take the necessary disciplinary action against them.”
The letter came on the same day that defense and prosecutors gave closing arguments in New York v. Trump.
Last week, Stefanik filed an ethics complaint against Marchan, alleging a conflict of interest related to her daughter’s role representing Democratic politicians and political action committees. Marchan’s daughter is president of Authentic Campaigns, a digital marketing firm whose clients include California Democrat Adam Schiff.
A courtroom sketch showing prosecutor Susan Hoffinger questioning Michael Cohen in the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump, who is charged with falsifying business records to hide payments made in 2016 to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels, presided over by Judge Juan Marchan, on May 13, 2024, in Manhattan State Court in New York, USA. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Stefanik said in her complaint last week that she learned of an “informal warning” from the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. [Merchan] He was indicted in July for making illegal political contributions to Biden and the Democratic Party in 2020.”
“As the current complaint makes clear, this personal admonition did not deter Judge Marchan from judicial misconduct,” she wrote. “Judge Marchan appears to be driven by his support for the Democratic Party and his daughter’s financial interests.”
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“It is essential that New Yorkers and all Americans have confidence that justice is served fairly in New York,” Stefanik said.
President Trump also slammed Judge Marchan as a judge with a “conflict of interest” and had previously called on him to recuse himself from the case because his daughter works as a political consultant.
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“Judge Juan Marchan, who has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (and whose daughter represents the evil Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff and other radical liberals), has just posted photos of me in jail, which is her clear goal, making it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial. He has now issued new illegal, un-American and unconstitutional ‘orders’ to continue to try to take away my rights,” Trump posted on Truth Social ahead of the start of the trial.
Former President Donald Trump attended the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15. Judge Juan Marchan posed for a photo in his courtroom in New York on March 14. (Angela Weiss/AFP, via Associated Press, POOL/AP)
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Trump has since been under a gag order barring him from publicly discussing witnesses or speaking out about court officials, district attorney’s office employees or their families. The gag order has prompted Trump to accuse Marchan of having a “conflict of interest” and being “corrupt,” but he has not gone into detail about Marchan’s alleged corruption.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sits in court during his hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, New York City, May 21, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool AFP via Getty Images)
“We have a very conflicted judge. He’s corrupt. He’s definitely conflicted. This is the worst situation anybody’s ever seen. Nobody’s ever seen anything like this,” Trump said ahead of the trial on Tuesday morning.
Trump said last week that Marchan could regain his “respect” if he dropped the lawsuit.
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“This case should be thrown out by the judge. If the judge throws it out, I think we can get some respect back. The appeals court has to step in and something has to happen. Think about it: The Republican Party, one of the two major parties, nominates someone and that candidate has to sit in freezing air conditioning for almost five weeks listening to this,” Trump said last Monday.
Fox News Digital reached out to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Inspector General of the New York State Unified Court System on Tuesday night but did not immediately receive a response.
