Elise Stefanik seeks probe into 'random selection' of Juan Merchan for Donald Trump's hush money trial

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Republican Elise Stefanik, who represents New York, has formally requested that the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and an inspector general to look into why Judge Juan Merchan was chosen to oversee the trial concerning Donald Trump’s alleged hush money payments.

Elise Stefanik questions 'infinitesimally small' likelihood of Juan Merchan's selection for three Donald Trump cases 

Stefanik highlighted Merchan’s involvement in other cases connected to Trump and his associates, emphasizing the “infinitesimally small” likelihood of one judge being assigned three specific criminal cases.

Stefanik expressed suspicion over the selection process, suggesting it was not as “random” as it should have been.

“One cannot help but suspect that the ‘random selection’ at work in the assignment of Acting Justice Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans, is in fact not random at all,” Stefanik wrote in the letter, according to NBC News.

Elise Stefanik: The simple answer why Judge Juan Merchan was assigned is to increase Donald Trump's chances of being convicted  

Stefanik maintained that the decision to assign Merchan, who has donated to the Democratic Party, appears to be a deliberate move to influence the outcome against Trump, the Trump Organization, and Steven Bannon.

"The simple answer to why Acting Justice Merchan has been assigned to these cases would seem to be that whoever made the assignment intentionally selected Acting Justice Merchan to handle them to increase the chance that Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Steven Bannon would ultimately be convicted," she wrote further. 

Despite these allegations, the authority responsible for supervising judges has clarified that there is no need for Merchan to withdraw from the case due to potential conflicts of interest as some critics have suggested.

Donald Trump gets bored as prosecution stretches closing arguments 

Amid the hush money closing arguments which began on Tuesday, May 28, in Manhattan, the former president seemed to have gotten bored when the prosecution took the turn. 

The defense team concluded its closing arguments after more than two hours, seeking to undermine the credibility of a key witness and former Trump fixer, Michael Cohen by accusing him of lying on all fronts about Trump. 

Trump wrote, "BORING!" as the prosecutor Joshua Steinglass delivered the closing arguments trying to convince the jury that Trump was guilty. The arguments were expected to stretch till late evening. 

Internet users were quick to acknowledge Trump's message on Truth Social and give their opinion about the trial. 

"You’re not five years old. This isn’t presidential behavior. It’s pathetic," one wrote on X. "It must be going well for the prosecutor," joked another. 

"Boring is right. Finally some self reflection from the Donald!" wrote one more. "Just wait until you check in at Rikers Island! #LockHimUp," wrote another. 

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