No recusal?
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The judge in the Trump/Carroll trial.
This letter is submitted on behalf of President Donald J. Trump (“President Trump”). As a result of a story published in the New York Post, defense counsel learned for the first time of allegations that Your Honor, while a partner at the Paul Weiss firm, had a “mentor” type relationship with Plaintiff’s lead counsel, Roberta Kaplan.1 Most concerning, is that the article was brought to the New York Post’s attention by an unnamed partner at Paul Weiss, who was aware of the close relationship between you and Ms. Kaplan and stated that “Lew was like her mentor.”
...If Your Honor truly worked with Ms. Kaplan in any capacity—especially if there was a mentor/mentee relationship—that fact should have been disclosed before any case involving these parties was permitted to proceed forward. This issue is particularly concerning since Plaintiff’s other lead counsel, Shawn Crowley, served as Your Honor’s law clerk, and we were previously advised that Your Honor co-officiated her wedding.2 28 U.S.C. Section 455(a) states that “[a]ny ... judge ... of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” Additionally, Canon 3 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges provides that:
“A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances in which:
(a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
(b) the judge served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom the judge previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the judge or such lawyer has been a material witness;”
The judge officiated at plaintiff's counsel's wedding.
Nice.
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You know, the primary reason to vote for Trump, is to let these people know this kind of stuff will not, cannot work.
We can survive four more years of Trump. I'm not sure we can survive this type of unjustified lawfare, should it become standard governing procedure.
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Carroll's attorney responds:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790.282.0.pdf
And Trump's lawyer walks it back:
