A decision made by a Trump-appointed judge has been reversed after an appeals court found that he 'almost certainly unknowingly' had a conflict of interest because of his wife.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw out the dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday, saying that the trial judge, Judge Lewis Liman, should have been recused from the case because his wife's stock ownership created an 'appearance of impropriety.
' The letter mentioned that had Liman known of the stock ownership, it would have required his recusal. It did not state when he learned of the conflict.'While there was no outright conflict when the district court judge ruled on the merits of this action, we nonetheless conclude that because § 455 and our related precedents required pre-judgment disqualification, vacatur is warranted,' Tuesday's unsigned opinion stated.