Donald Trump failed for a third time on Wednesday to pressure the judge who was set to sentence him in the money-paying case to keep him quiet.
Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate again argued that work done by Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter for a pro-Democrat organization constituted a “conflict of interest” and that she should recuse herself from the case.
In May, a jury convicted the former president of 34 felony counts for concealing money he was paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair with former adult star Stormy Daniels.
On Sept. 16, the justices will consider a separate request by Trump’s lawyers to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case following the Supreme Court’s ruling in July on presidential immunity.
Depending on the outcome of that hearing, Marchen has set a date of Sept. 18 for Trump’s sentencing.
Marchen forcefully rejected Trump’s latest attempt to remove him from office.
“Put simply, defendant’s arguments amount to nothing more than a rehash of old and unfounded claims,” Merchan wrote in the decision.
“Defense counsel’s reliance on, and explicit citation of, his own prior statement, which is riddled with inaccuracies and unfounded claims, is futile. Thus, Defendant’s motion is again DENIED.”
The New York State Ethics Committee previously found that Merchan’s handling of the case was not an issue, and the judge said “the court will continue to make its decisions based on the evidence and the law, without fear or favor, and without any improper influence.”
Despite the ethics ruling, Trump’s legal team insisted that work done by Marchen’s daughter, including what they said were past efforts to raise money for Trump’s rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, had undermined the judge’s independence.
In a scathing attack on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Marchen’s order, which limited his ability to attack the judge’s family members, “vote suppression and manipulation.”
Trump is the first former US president to be convicted of a crime, and he is doing everything he can to delay the various cases against him until after the November election.
He faces charges related to efforts in Washington and Georgia to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
