By Thomas Anderson
Should a judge or elected official be forced to recuse themselves from high-publicity cases or issues that demand a higher level of scrutiny and balance for the sake of posterity and justice? I think that’s a fair question all elected officials or judges should weigh in their hearts and minds when considering whether they have a conflict of interest on a high-profile issue or case they have purview over. We rarely if ever see recusals though because our world is so interconnected it’s almost impossible to rise to the highest levels of power without forming strong bonds and associations with people and organizations that have a financial interest in the result an elected official or judge creates on a case or piece of legislation.
In today’s modern politics recusals are only for direct conflicts of interest where the judge or elected official has some type of personal or financial interest in the outcome of something they are involved in. Family members of elected officials or judges are rarely used as reasons for a recusal unless the judge or elected official is receiving a direct financial benefit from that family member. These are hard things to prove, yet a high-ranking member of the GOP House of Representatives Leadership Conference is calling for the recusal of Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the Trump hush money case in New York.
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik NY-21 is calling for Judge Merchan’s recusal due to a “Judicial Bias” against President Trump, apparently rooted in the political dealings of the daughter of Judge Merchan. This is a high ethical bar for any public official, as the professional success of children are rarely ever seen as a reason for recusal. Even if the professional dealings are political in nature. There has to be some type of direct financial benefit for Judge Merchan or any other public official for a recusal due to a conflict of interest. The reason for this is apparent in Rep Stefanik’s own conflict of interest, one where it appears she is receiving a direct financial benefit.
Stefanik is married to a high-level official in one of the nation’s largest gun trade organizations. The NSSF National Shooting Sports Foundation also supports Congresswoman Stefanik with positive media stories consistently written about her, as well as stories the NSSF publishes that attack Stefanik’s political enemies. Stefanik’s husband penned a piece under his own byline telling Democrat Rep. Cori Bush to “suck it up” concerning her need to pay for armed security. Her husband is in charge of the NSSF media shop, making the media coverage she gets from them while benefitting from the salary they pay her husband enough of an issue to make her have to recuse herself on all gun issues before Congress.
A look at the 990’s of the NSSF shows a disturbing pattern of touting services, like campaigns to lower youth gun violence, they claim they’re providing to communities around the nation when in reality barely anything is being done. More…