Elise Stefanik files misconduct complaint against NYC Judge Merchan, says his assignment to Trump case was 'not random at all'

Representative Elise Stefanik has filed a misconduct complaint against Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s trial in Manhattan regarding charges of falsifying business records. The complaint, lodged with the New York State Unified Court System, questioned the impartiality of Merchan's selection to oversee the case, suggesting it was not "random."

Stefanik’s complaint called for an investigation to “determine whether the random selection process was in fact followed.” She asserted that the repeated assignment of Judge Merchan, a known Democratic Party donor, to cases involving Trump and his allies may not be a coincidence.

“The potential misconduct pertains to the repeated assignment of Acting Justice Juan Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to criminal cases related to President Donald J. Trump and his allies,” Stefanik wrote in her judicial complaint. 

“Acting Justice Merchan currently presides over the criminal case against President Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Acting Justice Merchan also presided over the criminal trial against the Trump Organization and will be presiding over the criminal trial of Steve Bannon, a senior advisor in President Trump’s White House and a prominent advocate for President Trump,” she explained.

Stefanik went on to cite Section 200.11(c) of the Uniform Rules for New York State Trial Courts, which mandates that criminal actions be assigned to judges through a method of random selection. She argued that the probability of three specific cases being randomly assigned to the same judge is “infinitesimally small.”

In her complaint, Stefanik also pointed to Merchan’s political contributions, which include donations to President Biden’s 2020 campaign and the Progressive Turnout Project’s “Stop Republicans”  initiative. This, combined with his daughter’s involvement in Democratic politics as a consultant, has further fueled suspicions of bias. Stefanik noted that Merchan’s daughter’s firm could stand to “profit greatly if Donald Trump is convicted.” 

“One cannot help but suspect that the 'random selection' 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,” Stefanik stated.

“I request that both the Commission and the Inspector General investigate this anomaly to determine whether the required random selection process was in fact followed in the assignment of these criminal cases to Acting Justice Merchan,” she concluded.

In the past, Trump has also spoken out about the bias of the judge and his daughter. Last March, Trump accused Merchan of “who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” and pointed out his daughter’s involvement in Democrat politics.