Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump judge, claiming Harris campaign paid his daughter's company

Rep. Elise Stefanik has filed an ethics complaint against New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan “for his illegal conflict of interest in the Manhattan mock trial of President Trump,” alleging that the Harris campaign has a “new active financial relationship” with a company run in part 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 ruling in New York v. Trump until after the November presidential election.

In an unprecedented criminal trial, Trump was found guilty 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.

Stefanik, RN.Y., is now calling on the Commission to “open a new investigation into Judge Merchan’s conflict of interest and take appropriate action as a result.”

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“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. In the report … appears a July 30, 2024 disbursement of $468.00 from Vice President Harris' campaign to Authentic Campaigns Inc. (Authentic) for web hosting services,” Stefanik wrote in her complaint. “This suggests that one of the very first things Harris did after taking over the Biden campaign's infrastructure was to hire this company, Authentic.

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“Authentic is a digital consulting and marketing firm that serves Democratic candidates. Loren Merchan, Judge Merchan's daughter, is its president,” Stefanik added. “Vice President Harris moved from AWS to Authentic immediately after being named the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

“This is simply the start of a new contract with a new campaign, regardless of the amount of the refund. Sure, there is an immediate benefit, but the focus here is on a potential larger benefit for Authentic and Merchan in the future,” Stefanik said in her complaint.

Judge Merchan sued for disclosing financial information amid concerns about his daughter's work as a Democrat

Stefanik further stated that the code of conduct “requires that a judge must recuse himself from a case if a relative up to and including the sixth degree has a financial interest in the outcome of the case.”

“Ms. Merchan is a first-degree relative of Judge Merchan. Authentic has recently had an active financial relationship with Vice President Harris' campaign,” Stefanik concluded.

The Harris campaign and the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Saturday.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source of the original article: Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump judge, claiming Harris campaign paid his daughter's company