Second Ethics Complaint Filed Against NY Judge Merchan as Concerns Increase over His Handling of Trump ‘Hush Money’ Case

The unanimous jury verdict last week against former President Donald Trump in the “hush money” case involving porn star Stormy Daniels is prompting concerns about unethical behavior by New York Judge Juan Merchan. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY-24) filed a misconduct complaint against Merchan last week, alleging that he violated ethics rules by presiding over the case since his progressive activist daughter made money from the case.

The complaint Stefanik filed with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct (NYSCJC) stated that under Section 100.3(E)(1)(d)(iii) of the Rules of Judicial Conduct for the New York State Unified Court System, “a judge is disqualified from a case when the judge knows that a person known by the judge to be within the sixth degree of relationship to him ‘has an interest that could be substantially affected by the proceeding.’”