{"id":2255280,"date":"2024-05-29T17:35:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T21:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stefanik-complaint-judge-merchan-was-intentionally-selected-to-ensure-trump-is-convicted\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T17:39:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T21:39:20","slug":"stefanik-complaint-judge-merchan-was-intentionally-selected-to-ensure-trump-is-convicted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stefanik-complaint-judge-merchan-was-intentionally-selected-to-ensure-trump-is-convicted\/","title":{"rendered":"Stefanik alleges Judge Merchan deliberately chosen to secure Trump&#8217;s conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstefanik-complaint-judge-merchan-was-intentionally-selected-to-ensure-trump-is-convicted%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2255280&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Rep. Stefanik filed a misconduct complaint against the selection \u200bof Judge Merchan in Trump&#8217;s case, questioning the supposed\u2062 randomness of\u2064 the assignment. This move is\u2062 part of concerns over the fairness \u200dof ongoing proceedings against Trump and his associates, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/three-men-found-not-guilty-in-whitmer-kidnapping-plot\/\" title=\"Three men acquitted in Whitmer kidnapping scheme.\">highlighting potential biases<\/a> in the\u200d judge&#8217;s\u2064 selection process and its implications on the trial outcomes. Your summary captures the essence of Rep. Stefanik&#8217;s misconduct complaint regarding \u200dJudge Merchan&#8217;s selection in Trump&#8217;s case, focusing on \u2063the fairness of the proceedings and the potential biases in the judge&#8217;s assignment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has submitted an official misconduct complaint to the New York State Unified Court System regarding the allegedly \u201crandom\u201d selection of Juan Merchan as the judge over the ongoing case against former President Donald Trump in Manhattan, she announced Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"nL9ipJOk0MRvjfNQI1mZFxgWTsDyUCYloa\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea8 I just filed an official misconduct complaint with the New York State Unified Court System related to the \u201crandom\u201d assignment of Acting Manhattan Justice Juan Merchan, a Biden donor whose daughter is fundraising millions off his unprecedented work, to criminal cases\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OsBjFc3qeI\">pic.twitter.com\/OsBjFc3qeI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EliseStefanik\/status\/1795585619223081302?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Her complaint comes toward the end of a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/16\/trump-will-be-in-court-instead-of-campaigning-for-8-weeks-thanks-to-democrats-new-york-lawfare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criminal trial<\/a> in which Trump has faced 34 felony charges stemming from accusations that he instructed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay \u201chush money\u201d to pornographer Stormy Daniels to conceal an alleged past affair. Trump is accused of falsifying financial records by failing to label these payments as campaign expenses, an absurd allegation given that labeling such payments as campaign expenses would have been illegal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-481240763\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b3f8425903175c33a336a478c809bb38 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b3f8425903175c33a336a478c809bb38\"><\/div>\n<p>Stefanik\u2019s complaint pertains to Merchan\u2019s assignment to three separate criminal cases related to Trump, including his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-top-five-moments-of-ben-shapiros-speech-at-fsu\/\" title=\"WATCH: Top Five Moments Of Ben Shapiro\u2019s Speech At FSU\">ongoing criminal trial<\/a>, the previous trial against the Trump Organization, and the upcoming trial against Trump ally Steve Bannon. The New York State Unified Court System\u2019s rules state that criminal cases are assigned to judges randomly, but Stefanik doubts this rule was followed in Democrats\u2019 lawfare crusade, which has proved to be their top 2024 campaign strategy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf justices were indeed being randomly assigned in the Criminal Term, the probability of two specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is quite low, and the probability of three specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is infinitesimally small. And yet, we see Acting Justice Merchan on all three cases,\u201d Stefanik wrote in her misconduct complaint addressed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and Inspector General Kay-Ann Porter Campbell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne cannot help but suspect that the \u2018random selection\u2019 at work in the assignment of Acting Justice Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans, is in fact not random at all,\u201d the congresswoman added. <\/p>\n<p>She said the reason for Merchan\u2019s assignment to all the cases is \u201csimple\u201d: to secure the convictions of Trump and his allies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cc1b4ac4a2861ac6bbf02a2a0dab5931 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cc1b4ac4a2861ac6bbf02a2a0dab5931\"><\/div>\n<p>This is the second complaint Stefanik filed this month, following her demand that Merchan recuse himself over glaring conflicts of interest. In addition to Merchan himself having donated to Biden, his daughter is a Democrat operative whose clients previously used the Trump indictment to fundraise for Democrat candidates.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What\u2019s the rule?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/ww2.nycourts.gov\/rules\/trialcourts\/200.shtml#11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">uniform rules<\/a> that govern the trial courts in New York lay out a clear procedure for how judges should be assigned to criminal trials like the lawfare case against Trump. <\/p>\n<p>Section 200.11, which covers how criminal cases are assigned to judges, states the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Assignment of actions to individual assignment judges. Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section, upon commencement of a criminal action in the superior court, the action shall be assigned to a judge by the clerk of the court in which it is pending pursuant to a method of random selection authorized by the Chief Administrator. The judge thereby assigned shall be known as the \u201cassigned judge\u201d with respect to such action and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (d) of this section, shall conduct all further proceedings therein.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In other words, a court clerk uses a preapproved system to <em>randomly <\/em>assign criminal cases to individual judges. At least, that\u2019s the rule. But Stefanik, along with many other Republicans, suspect Merchan\u2019s assignment was not so \u201crandom\u201d after all. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0b09a566a3cef392ff11b0b5c77918bd fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0b09a566a3cef392ff11b0b5c77918bd\"><\/div>\n<p>According to the judicial personnel roster provided by the New York State Unified Court System, there are currently 28 judges serving on the New York County criminal term, one of which is Merchan<em>.<\/em><strong> <\/strong>So as Stefanik pointed out, those odds are \u201cinfinitesimally small.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>If Not Random, Then What?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/ww2.nycourts.gov\/rules\/trialcourts\/200.shtml#11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">uniform rules<\/a> governing New York trial courts provide insight into the circumstances that would bypass the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judiciary-seeks-limits-on-judge-shopping-strategies-after-bipartisan-concerns\/\" title=\"Judiciary aims to curb 'judge shopping' tactics following bipartisan worries\">random assignment system<\/a>.\u00a0They read as follows:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Exceptions.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>(1) <em>Where the requirements of matters already assigned to a judge are such as to limit the ability of that judge to handle additional cases, the Chief Administrator may authorize that new assignments to that judge be suspended until the judge is able to handle additional cases.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>(2) <em>The Chief Administrator may authorize the assignment of one or more special reserve trial judges. Such judges may be assigned matters for trial in exceptional circumstances where the needs of the courts require such assignment.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>(3) <em>Matters requiring immediate disposition may be assigned to a judge designated to hear such matters when the assigned judge is not available.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>(4) <em>The Chief Administrator may authorize the transfer of any action and any matter relating to an action from one judge to another in accordance with the needs of the court.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So here are the possibilities: If a judge is too busy with other cases, he or she can temporarily stop getting new ones. Special judges can be brought in for trials in unusual situations where needed. Urgent matters can be given to a different judge if the assigned judge isn\u2019t available. Cases can be moved from one judge to another to meet the court\u2019s needs. <\/p>\n<p>None of these rules fit the circumstances of the Trump trial, but New York State Office of Court Administration spokesman Al Baker refused to acknowledge this fact and released a statement claiming the Trump case was merely a routine assignment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we\u2019ve said repeatedly, including in April 2023, Judge Merchan was assigned to supervise the special grand juries that investigated the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg as well as Donald Trump,\u201d Baker said. \u201cHe was, in turn, assigned the indictments that arose from those investigations, which is common practice since the judge supervising the grand jury investigation already has some familiarity with these often-complex cases and can manage them more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stefanik isn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n<p>As she wrote in her complaint: \u201cThe simple answer to why Acting Justice Merchan has been assigned to these cases would seem to be that whoever made the assignment intentionally selected Acting Justice Merchan to handle them to increase the chance that Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Steven Bannon would ultimately be convicted.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-701fb03f21a20f748fc19a0d0a024ab2 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-701fb03f21a20f748fc19a0d0a024ab2\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed a misconduct complaint with the NY State Unified Court System over Juan Merchan&#8217;s selection as judge in the case against ex-President Trump. Stefanik criticized the supposed randomness of the choice, raising concerns about the fairness of the ongoing proceedings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3175,"featured_media":2255281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-4.15.07%E2%80%AFPM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2255280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-4.15.07%E2%80%AFPM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2255281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}