< p>The judge from New York in the case against Donald Trump, filed against him because he bought the silence of a porn star, today rejected the second request of the former US president to recuse himself, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Trump tried to remove Judge Juan Mercan on the grounds that his daughter's work at a political consulting firm with Democratic clients constituted a conflict of interest.
Trump is the first former US president to stand trial in a criminal court, which could complicate his bid to return to the White House. New York state prosecutors accuse him of falsifying documents to conceal a $130,000 payment in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy porn star Stormy Daniels' silence about having sex with her in 2006. which the porn actress claims they had, and Trump has always denied it.
Although the case is seen by some legal experts as the least important of the four criminal cases against Trump, it is the only one guaranteed to go to trial before the November 5 US election, according to Reuters.
>
Trump has pleaded not guilty. If he is convicted of it and wins the presidential election at the same time, he could still hold office, but a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that a conviction could hurt his prospects.
Before entering the courtroom, Trump remarked: "This is an outrage. This is political persecution". The reason for the investigation of the case became a publication of the "Wall Street Journal" in January 2018. According to the newspaper, a month before Trump won the 2016 election, his lawyer Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) $130,000 not to disclose information about her relationship with Trump in 2006 -2007
In 2018, Michael Cohen went on trial on several charges, one of which was for violating Trump's campaign finance rules, specifically the payments to Stormy Daniels. At the time, prosecutors did not file charges against Trump, citing presidential immunity. However, in November 2022, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office opened a new investigation.
The other three criminal cases accuse Trump of mishandling classified information and trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
During a court hearing today in New York, prosecutors asked for a fine for Trump after they said he violated an order on social media several times in recent days not to criticize witnesses in the case. There will be a court hearing on this issue on April 24.