5/30 ruling against Trump

[Belsnickel]

(05-31-2024, 07:50 PM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote: Well considering you guys are throwing a hissy over who a SCOTUS is politically aligned with....

Let's take a look at this little ethics code violation, maybe Bels can clear it up for us on how this applies to the Judge involved in this case:

Model Code of Judicial Conduct: Canon 4
Specifically Rule 4:1
(4)    solicit funds for, pay an assessment to, or make a contribution* to a political organization or a candidate for public office;




Wouldn't his $ donation be a major violation as he's not showing impartiality?

So, I looked into this a little further because I was smoking brisket and chicken for my Grand Master's Official Visit, yesterday, and got home late after the event. So I couldn't dig into this last night to learn more.

What I learned was that Merchan donated $15 to the Biden campaign and made two $10 donations to other progressive groups in 2020. Based on the language of New York's code of judicial conduct, that was a violation. After reading some of the reporting about this from folks at the time this news came out and reading more of the New York court's judicial conduct information, this would not have received any sort of disciplinary action because of the trivial amount involved. He would have likely received a notice of the violation with a reminder of the rules. It would not be seen as a "major violation" and would not rise to the level of recusal or dismissal for the case.

Because this information was known before trial began in the criminal trial there was every opportunity for Trump's defense team to take that up in a motion for Merchan's removal, which if Merchan dismissed could be appealed up the chain. I am not aware of any such motion which means Trump's team either didn't see it as important or missed the opportunity to use it in this case.