One of the things the left is most eager to see this upcoming election season is for Donald Trump to be sent to prison on November 5th. They want a long prison sentence for the former president, who was falsely convicted of 34 felony counts in May before New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Marchan in connection with so-called hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
But some groups are hoping to learn more about Marchan's finances and possible conflicts of interest in the case. America First Legal initially asked Marchan for financial disclosures in early June, but has yet to hear back from the judge or the state government.
“The law is clear that judicial financial disclosures must be made public, and the New York State Supreme Court has said such disclosures are necessary for parties before the court to receive a fair trial,” AFL Vice President Dan Epstein said in a statement. “The public needs to know what Judge Marchan is hiding — or has made no financial disclosures at all. This is especially important given that Judge Marchan appears to have engaged in illegal campaign financing and is on the verge of issuing a criminal sentence to a former U.S. president.”
“Fundamental fairness dictates that America First Legal's lawsuit should be adjudicated in their favor,” Epstein concluded.
America First filed the lawsuit citing Marchan's “clear political bias” against Trump in the controversial “hush money” conviction. Much of Marchan's alleged bias against Trump stems from the fact that Marchan's daughter, Lauren Marchan, is president of Authentic Campaigns, a left-leaning political consulting firm that opposes Trump and promotes candidates such as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The AFL alleges that Authentic Campaigns has exploited Trump's legal troubles to generate significant revenue — “at least $93 million in campaign contributions,” according to the complaint — and that Marchan and the lawsuit are clearly part of that effort, raising questions about the judge's impartiality in the high-profile case.
“Judge Marchan issued a number of bizarre and legally inexplicable rulings in favor of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and against President Trump before and during the criminal trial, which resulted in his widely condemned conviction on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records,” the lawsuit states.
The AFL believes that Marchand, who has a history of financially supporting anti-Trump causes, including the Biden campaign and the left-wing political group Stop Republicans, is not capable of delivering a fair trial, and further believes that such contributions should have disqualified him from presiding over the Trump lawsuit.
Judge Marchan is due to hand down his ruling in the Trump case on September 18. The AFL argues that Judge Marchan's insistence on continuing to preside over the case “undermines public confidence in the fair and impartial administration of justice”.
The AFL is not the only organisation investigating wrongdoing surrounding the entire hush money scandal.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is seeking answers about the Justice Department's responsibility in the case and “the extent to which the prosecution of a prominent presidential candidate is coordinated by the federal government.”
Meanwhile, the AFL has taken particular note of Marchan's reluctance to make required financial disclosures.
“This is not a difficult or complicated case. The committee is legally mandated
“All that is required is that the requested disclosure documents be made available for inspection,” the complaint states.
Is Marchan hiding financial information as the AFL suggests? If so, any punishment he issues against Trump on September 18th should be called into immediate question.
