A federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton has rejected a demand that he recuse from a new lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the former president’s wife. U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks agreed to equate the Clintons’ interests but said previous rulings show that mere appointment to the bench by a litigant will not create a perception of bias. “Given this precedent, I am not disqualified from presiding, nor should I recuse on the basis of any appearance of partiality,” the judge said in a 5-page order. “To warrant recusal, something more must be involved than solely my appointment to the bench twenty-five years ago by the spouse of a litigant now before me.” Federal law states that “Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” In the motion for disqualification, lawyers for former President …