Judge in Trump case has received death threats and harassment

Judge Juan Merchan, who is investigating the case against former U.S. President Donald Trump in the context of the alleged bribery of porn actress Stormy Daniels, has received “dozens of death threats and harassing calls” in recent days, according to sources close to the magistrate have reported to ABC.

Most of the intimidations against the magistrate have been made by phone or in the form of “death threats by email” and take place after Trump accused the judge of lack of impartiality having been “appointed” by the Prosecutor’s Office that brought the charges against the former president.

Trump also recalled that the magistrate had instructed the case that led to a conviction for fraud against his company, the Trump Organization, and went so far as to state that Merchan held a personal animus against him. “He hates me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.

Appearing before the judge Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers sought to downplay the former president’s written attacks on the magistrate and qualified that the ex-president was simply considering, in general terms, that he was being subjected to “a grave injustice.”

For its part, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of Court Administration has limited himself to commenting to ABC that the department has increased the security of its workers since the beginning of the process against the former president.

“During the last few weeks we have continued to evaluate security issues and potential threats and have maintained an increased security presence in and around the courthouses,” the spokesman said.