'Absolutely should have recused': Expert says hush money judge's ethics slip helps appeal

New York judge Juan Merchan dismissed efforts by former President Donald Trump to bow out of Trump's hush money case. And now a former federal prosecutor is saying that may have been the wrong decision.

Former prosecutor and CNN analyst Elie Honig was asked point-blank by "The Lead" host Jake Tapper if Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Merchan should have bowed out of the case over a $35 donation he made to the Democratic party and Joe Biden in 2020.

"In my view, he absolutely should have recused himself. He should have removed himself," Honig said. "I mean, it's minuscule, but judges are not supposed to give any amount. He violated the rules by giving $2 forget about $35."

Trump’s legal team aggressively pushed before the trial began to buck Merchan off the bench, claiming he was biased against the 45th president, who remains the presumptive nominee in this year's general election.

They also took aim at Merchan's daughter, Loren, who works as a political consultant under the employ of the digital consulting firm Authentic Campaigns, which performed marketing campaigns on behalf of both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a letter filed in April, Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche suggested her work involved "ongoing financial interest."

"Under these circumstances, Your Honor has an interest in this case that warrants recusal, there is an unacceptable risk that the Court's family relationships will influence judicial conduct, and the Court's impartiality 'might reasonably be questioned,'" he wrote as part of a motion in support of recusal.

They also noted that Merchan was the judge in a case against the Trump Organization in 2022 which ended in conviction on tax fraud charges.

But Merchan had what Honig called a "C-Y-A memo."

On May 4, 2023, the New York State Judicial Ethics Advisory Board reviewed Merchan and determined he had no potential conflicts.

"We see nothing in the inquiry to suggest that the outcome of the case could have any effect on the judge's relative, the relative's business, or any of their interests," the committee found.

"Judge Merchan did get himself what we would technically call a 'C-Y-A memo'," Honig said. "He went to the ethics board and gave them the facts and they said, you can stay on."

He then offered a hypothetical: "What if the judge had donated a tiny amount, $35 to Trump 2020?"

For Honig, he is convinced that "people would be going nuts about that." Still, he admitted he wasn't sure it "quite rises to the level of reversal."

Watch the clip below or click here to watch.