WILL SCHARF: This is a prosecution that should have never been brought. This was a case tried in front of a judge who clearly should have recused. I think we have a lot of fair complaints with the way that this trial was conducted, and I think ultimately President Trump will be vindicated on appeal.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: The ethics panel for the state of New York said the judge was not required to recuse.
SCHARF: Well, I think when you look at binding Supreme Court precedent, including most notably the seminal case on judicial recusal, Caperton v. Massey, even the appearance of impropriety can require a judge to recuse for reasons of due process. Here, I think we have far more than an appearance of impropriety. The fact that Judge Merchán contributed to Joe Biden during the 2020 election, many of the other issues that we've raised in our recusal papers throughout this case. I think Judge Merchán should have clearly recused and I think that's going to be an issue that the appellate courts are gonna have to deal with.
STEPHANOPOULOS: If appearance of impropriety is the standard for recusal, then why shouldn't Justice Thomas and Justice Alito have to recuse from the cases before the Supreme Court?
SCHARF: I think the appearance of impropriety there is not nearly as severe. I think you're not talking about financial conflicts of interest. You're certainly not talking about a judge who's violated judicial code of conduct in terms of political contributions. I think that's frankly stunning. Speaking as a former attorney, former law clerk, I've never heard of a judge contributing to political candidates before. I've certainly never heard of a judge sitting in judgment over the opponent of the political candidate he contributed to.
