‘SHOULD ALREADY BE CLEAR’

Trump Bid for New Judge in Hush Money Case Rejected Again

As the former president heads toward his sentencing, he can’t seem to clear a hurdle name Judge Juan Merchan.

Judge Juan Merchan has again rejected a request from former President Donald Trump to get his presidential immunity hearing for his criminal hush money case assigned to another judge, according to the New York Daily News. “[This] court now reiterates for the third time, that which should already be clear—innuendo and mischaracterizations do not a conflict create. Recusal is therefore not necessary, much less required,” Merchan wrote in the ruling. Merchan added in his decision that Trump’s request was “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims,” as the former president continues to press that Merchan’s daughter, Loren, who is a Democratic political consultant, is influencing him. “Raising no new facts or law, the Defendant again premised his motion for recusal on the unsubstantiated claims that a family member of this Court stood to gain financially from this Court’s rulings,” Merchan responded to Trump’s claim about his daughter. Merchan will hear Trump’s immunity request on Sept. 16.