George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Monday that the judge in the Trump business records trial violated ethics rules with his donation to President Joe Biden’s 2020 election campaign, and questioned why he was presiding over the case at all.
Merchan made a $15 donation to Biden’s election campaign in 2020, a $10 donation to a group called “Stop Republicans” and a $10 donation to a “Progressive Turnout Project,” according to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Turley said that the small size of the donation was irrelevant. (RELATED: Andy McCarthy Says He Doesn’t Believe Trump Judge Will Toss Case Because His Daughter Is ‘Progressive Operative’)
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“It is very clear, they say you can’t make political contributions and he did,” Turley said on “Fox and Friends” after co-host Ainsley Earhardt mentioned the donations. “And the fact it is ‘de minimus’ or small, really, I think, misses the point. You make donations to show your support, that is what that $15 did.”
“What’s also concerning for many is that Merchan was not randomly selected, he was hand-picked as the judge for this case, and many of us don’t understand it,” Turley continued. “You have a judge who is donor to the president, whose daughter is a major Democratic operative, you would think this would be an easy call, there are plenty of other judges.”
Loren Merchan, the judge’s daughter, works for a firm that helped Democratic causes raise $93 million off Trump’s indictment in the case centering around a $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels, the New York Post reported. Merchan expanded a previously-issued gag order April 1 after former President Trump posted a link to the New York Post’s report.
UPDATE Judicial Conduct Commission Vindicates Trump: The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct dismissed an ethics complaint with a “caution” to Judge Merchan over his donations to the Biden campaign and other Democratic causes. Reports are Judge Merchan has not released… https://t.co/D8ph8IClRa
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) May 18, 2024
“He’s not going to be held accountable to the bar association, but this is one of the many aspects of this trial that are troubling to those who view this as the weaponization of the system,” Turley said.
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