WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 28: U.S. Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) delivers remarks during a House Oversight Committee hearing titled “The Basis for an Impeachment Inquiry of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.” on Capitol Hill September 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. The hearing is expected to focus on the constitutional and legal questions House Republicans are raising about President Biden and his son Hunter Biden. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:16 PM – Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw former President’s Donald Trump’s “hush money” case, has been removed from former Trump strategist Steve Bannon’s upcoming criminal fraud trial.
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Judge Ellen Biben said in a statement that Merchan is no longer involved in the case due to “conflicting schedules.”
“Merchan … who is assigned to this matter, is engaged to preside over a six-defendant trial that is scheduled to commence on 09/16/24 and expected to last at least three months,” she wrote.
She added that Merchan’s involvement in the Bannon case could not be possible since his trial is set to begin on September 23rd. Biben concluded her statement by saying that Judge April Newbauer will be taking over over Bannon’s case. She also noted that the new judge will “follow up with the parties to schedule a status conference and for any further communication.”
Judge Newbauer has previously been under fire after she set bail at only $5,000 for a man who had been charged with assaulting a woman and attempted burglary. Months later, out on bail, the man was charged again for killing the same woman, her friend, and her dog.
Bannon has previously pleaded not-guilty to charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud in relation to his fundraising campaign in which he allegedly duped donors.
He has a scheduled appearance on July 23rd and will go to a Connecticut prison for four months starting on July 1st for a 2022 contempt of Congress conviction regarding his “refusal to assist the January 6th House committee.”
Bannon had recently requested that the Supreme Court delay his sentence.
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