Trump Seeks Judge Recusal in ‘Central Park Five’ Case (1)

President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers asked that a federal judge recuse himself from an ongoing defamation case involving the so-called “Central Park Five,” citing the plaintiffs lawyer’s long-term friendship with the man overseeing the case.

Trump and his attorneys Thursday sought the “immediate recusal” of Senior Judge Michael Baylson. They cited a Nov. 13 disclosure in the case by one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, detailing his and his firm’s relationship with the judge.

The attorney Shanin Specter said he has “personally represented both Judge Baylson and his wife. I [Specter] have also known and enjoyed a friendship with Judge Baylson since I was a child. Both he and his wife have been guests in my home on various occasions, and I and my wife have been guests in their home on various occasions as well.”

Specter told Bloomberg Law Friday, "We do not oppose the request.”

Trump’s lawyers argued “a reasonable person would question the court’s impartiality,” and “a reasonable man, knowing the circumstances” of their personal relationship, “could harbor doubts concerning impartiality.” Recusal is necessary given the high-profile nature of the case where the public’s confidence in the judiciary is “all the more critical,” according to the filing submitted in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

On Oct. 21, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown (formerly McCray), and Korey Wise sued Trump, alleging at the Sept. 10 presidential debate, “Trump falsely stated that plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false. Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing.”

The case stems from the 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in New York. Trump placed full-page newspaper ads calling for the death penalty for the defendants. More than 20 years later, in 2002, the five men who spent between six and 13 years in prison, were exonerated using DNA evidence. The plaintiffs claim Trump has continued to assert their guilt.

This week, Trump also asked and received a delay from Baylson to respond to the underlying civil complaint. He now is slated to reply to the allegations in federal court by Dec. 11.

Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the law firm defending the president-elect, declined to comment.

The case is Salaam v. Trump, E.D. Pa., 24-cv-05560, motion filed 11/14/24