Representative Elise Stefanik has filed an ethics complaint against New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan “for his illegal conflict of interest in a sham Manhattan lawsuit against President Trump,“claiming that Harris' campaign has “new active financial relationships” with a company partly led by his daughter.
The filing with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct came the same day that Merchan decided to delay Trump's sentencing in New York v. Trump until after the trial. Presidential elections in November.
Trump was convicted in an unprecedented criminal trial on all 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records after a six-week trial following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
But Stefanik, the New York nurse, is now asking the Commission to open “a new investigation into Judge Merchan's conflict of interest and take all appropriate action in connection therewith.”
JUDGE MERCHAN DELAYS TRUMP'S SENTENCE UNTIL ELECTION
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a nurse from New York, filed an ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan. (Leon Neel/Getty Images/AP/Seth Wenig)
“On August 20, 2024, Vice President Harris' campaign filed its first report with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), documenting expenditures and contributions through July 31, 2024. The report… On July 30, 2024, a payment was made in the amount of $468.00 from Vice President Harris Campaign “Authentic Campaigns Inc. (Authentic) for web hosting services,” Stefanik wrote in her complaint. “This shows that one of Harris’s first actions after taking over the Biden campaign’s infrastructure was to hire this firm, Authentic.
READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE
“Authentic is a digital consulting and marketing firm that serves Democratic candidates. Lauren Merchan, Judge Merchan’s daughter, is its president,” Stefanik added. “Vice President Harris switched her hosting company from AWS to Authentic immediately after becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.”
“This is just the start of a new contract with a new campaign, regardless of the amount of compensation. Sure, there is an immediate benefit, but this is a play for potentially greater benefit for Authentic and Merchan in the future,” Stefanik said in her complaint.
Former President Trump will appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on hush money charges on May 30 in New York. Sentencing in that case, in which Trump was found guilty, has been postponed until November. (Stephen Hirsch/Getty Images)
Stefanik continued, stating that the code of conduct “prescribes that a judge must recuse a case if a relative up to and including the sixth degree of kinship has a financial interest in the outcome of the case.”
“Ms. Merchan is a first-degree relative of Judge Merchan. Authentic has a new active financial relationship with Vice President Harris's campaign,” Stefanik concluded.
Stefanik says Authentic, a company run by Merchan's daughter, “has once again established an active financial relationship with Vice President Harris' campaign.” (Reuters)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Harris' campaign and the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on Saturday.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.