Conflict of Interest: Elise Stefanik Calls For Investigation Into NY Judge Merchan

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik has thrown down the gauntlet.

She’s accusing the New York judge in Trump’s hush money trial of having a conflict of interest.

Why?

Because his daughter, Loren Merchan, runs Authentic Campaigns.

Authentic Campagins just so happens to represent some of Trump’s biggest political adversaries.

Probably a coincidence?

And so Stefanik went ahead filed an ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan, calling out what she sees as a “clear conflict of interest.”

🚨 SCOOP: Elise Stefanik files ethics complaints against Trump trial's Judge Merchan, accusing the judge of a conflict of interest. https://t.co/ACw1SmFpJT

— Axios (@axios) May 21, 2024

They wanted to investigate Trump.

Now they’re going to be the ones be investigated.

The hunters become the hunted.

Elise Stefanik demands conflict-of-interest investigation of New York judge in Trump trial https://t.co/99wNplLSLo

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) May 21, 2024

The Washington Times reports:

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik accused the New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial of having a conflict of interest because of his daughter’s ties to Democrat-aligned groups.

Ms. Stefanik, New York Republican, filed an ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday saying he has a “clear conflict of interest” because his daughter, Loren Merchan, is president of Authentic Campaigns, whose clients are some of Mr. Trump’s biggest opponents.

The congresswoman argued that Judge Merchan’s relationship with his daughter, and drive to see her do well, created a conflict of interest in the courtroom. She called on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct to open an investigation into his conduct.

“Judge Merchan appears driven by Democrat partisanship and financial gain for his daughter,” Ms. Stefanik wrote in the complaint.

Judge Merchan has come under intense scrutiny from Republicans, and Mr. Trump, because of his daughter’s professional life and its potential to impact his impartially overseeing the trial, which is set to begin jury deliberation Tuesday after the long Memorial Day weekend.

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Mr. Trump led the charge in attacking the judge’s daughter on his social media platform Truth Social, and in return was hit with a gag order from Judge Merchan that barred him from making comments about his daughter and family members of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case.

Washington Examiner adds:

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is demanding the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York to recuse himself from the case over allegations his daughter is using the indictment for financial gain.

In an ethics complaint submitted to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct on Tuesday, Stefanik is urging Judge Juan Merchan to step down from the case over allegations his daughter is leveraging the trial to make money through her fundraising agency. The complaint comes as other House Republicans have also targeted Merchan over his daughter’s politics, deeming it a conflict of interest.

“Judge Merchan currently presides over the criminal case against President Donald J. Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” Stefanik wrote in the complaint. “If convicted, President Trump faces a maximum of 136 years’ imprisonment. Moreover, he is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for this November’s presidential election. As such, not only are President Trump’s interests at stake, the interests of all Americans are at stake.”

Stefanik, a fierce Trump supporter who is vying for a chance to be his vice presidential pick, filed the compliant as the case is about to close and when little could be done in terms of recusal.

Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is the president of Authentic Campaigns, a digital marketing and fundraising agency aligned with several Democratic lawmakers and political action committees. Shortly after Trump’s initial indictment in April 2023 in the hush-money trial, a number of Democrats were quick to use the charges in fundraising material — including clients whom Loren Merchan represented.