By Karen Freifeld
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has dismissed an ethics complaint against the Justice Department Juan Merchanwho is overseeing the hush-money criminal case against the former US president Donald Trumpsays a spokesperson for the judge.
“Judge Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed with a warning in July,” state Bureau of Judicial Administration spokesman Al Baker said this week in response to a Reuters inquiry.
According to committee rules, future misconduct may result in a warning.
The complaint stemmed from 2020 donations that the Federal Election Commission said amounted to $35 to the Democratic group ActBlue, including $15 earmarked for Biden as president and $10 each to Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans. Reuters was unable to determine who filed the complaint.
Republican Trump, hoping to win back the White House in a Nov. 5 election against Democrats President Joe Biden, has attempted to have Merchan disqualified from the hush money case. Trump and his lawyers say the judge is conflicted over his daughter’s work as a political adviser for Democrats and have questioned the political contributions.
In its 2024 annual report, the Commission on Judicial Conduct states that contributions violate rules on prohibited political activities. According to the report, several dozen judges have apparently made prohibited contributions in recent years, mainly to candidates for federal office. It said most were modest, typically less than $100 and sometimes as low as $5 or $10.
The committee’s investigation and its outcome have not previously been reported. A committee administrator declined to comment. The committee’s work is confidential, unless it decides on public censorship or other discipline, or the judge makes it public.
Last year, Merchan denied Trump’s first motion to have him step aside, after a separate Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee said the modest, more than two-year-old submissions could not create an impression of bias or favoritism.
During his trial in New York, Trump pleaded not guilty to falsifying company records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims they had a sexual encounter. He denies having had an encounter.
Trump filed another recusal motion last month. Merchan denied it.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chris Sanders and Howard Goller)
