Trump’s Unexpected Appeal Against Judge Merchan In A Battle of Wits

This week, former President Donald Trump made three attempts to delay his upcoming “hush money” criminal case in New York, scheduled to begin on Monday, April 15.

One of these efforts involved filing a sealed lawsuit directly with the appellate division against Judge Juan Merchan, challenging the gag order imposed on Trump and appealing recent decisions made by the judge.

The trial, set for next week, follows Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s 34-count indictment of Trump for felony falsification of business records in 2017, related to alleged payments made in 2016 to silence accusations of extramarital affairs before the presidential election.

Former President Trump faced another setback as NBC News reported that Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer of the Appellate Division rejected his unusual lawsuit seeking to delay the trial while Judge Merchan’s recent orders were reviewed.

This marked Trump’s third consecutive appellate loss, with two other judges denying similar appeals in the preceding days.

The appeals centered around a gag order on Trump, Merchan’s dismissal of presidential immunity as a defense, and his refusal to recuse himself due to his daughter’s ties to a Democrat-aligned consultancy firm.

NBC News reported that former President Trump’s lawsuit against Judge Merchan, acting as an appeal, was filed under Article 78 litigation in New York.

This law permits suits against local and state government officials, including judges, for perceived unlawful actions and orders.

According to The New York Times, after Justice Gesmer dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against Merchan, the former president could potentially request a rehearing by the full five-judge appellate panel.

It is unlikely to happen before the trial scheduled for Monday.

In a broader view of Trump’s recent last-minute appeals, all of which were denied in the past three days, The Times highlighted the rarity and apparent “unprecedented” nature of these filings.

It was noted that a dozen legal experts acknowledged this flurry of filings while suggesting that Trump’s legal team might file additional motions on other pending matters in the near future.

One of those experts contacted by The Times, former judge turned defense attorney Barry Kamins, acknowledged how unusual the situation was but stated, “I’ll ask you: Has a former president ever been prosecuted before? Everything about this case is a first.”

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