Trump had asked for Merchan to step off the case in Manhattan Supreme Court, where his trial is set to begin in late March, citing three different areas of potential conflicts of interest. The judge wrote that he "finds that recusal would not be in the public interest." Judge Juan Merchan said he had "carefully weighed" the legal standards for recusing himself after Trump cited the judge's purported conflicts of interest. The New York judge set to preside over the porn star hush money trial of Donald Trump refused on Monday to step off the case, saying he is certain he can be "fair and impartial" to the former president . Merchan cited a 1988 New York federal appeals court decision related to judicial recusal.

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Persons: Donald Trump, Juan Merchan, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Merchan, recusal, recusing, Trump's, Michael Cohen, Daniels, Cohen, Allen Weisselberg, Joe Biden, Re Drexel Burnham Lambert Organizations: New, Republican, Trump, Trump Organization, Democratic, New York, Re, Manhattan, Attorney's Office Locations: Manhattan, New York City, New York