What there is to know
- The unprecedented indictment the former president faces in connection with alleged actions he took to bribe porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election could lead to the former resident’s trial. New York.
- If he faces criminal charges in Lower Manhattan, Trump will appear before the same judge who presided over the trial of former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
- Judge Juan Merchan was born in Bogotá, Colombia, came to the United States when he was just six years old and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to a report by The New York Times.
NEW YORK – The unprecedented indictment facing former President Donald Trump in connection with his alleged actions to bribe porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election will bring the former New York resident to justice.
Since facing criminal charges in Lower Manhattan, Trump is tentatively scheduled to appear before a judge at an arraignment on Tuesday.
And who is the judge who will hear the case? That would be Juan Merchan, who has served as an acting state Supreme Court justice since 2009 and the same judge who presided over the trial of former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
Judge Merchan, who began his career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, now has 16 years of judicial experience. The New York Times reports that Merchan was born in Bogotá, Colombia, came to the United States when he was just six years old and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Merchan worked in the state attorney general’s office before being appointed to the Bronx Family Court in 2006. Since 2009, he has been a sitting judge of the state Supreme Court.
In the case of the former Trump Organization CFO, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 counts and testified against his employer, admitting he was involved in a scheme to defraud federal, state, and tax authorities. and municipal. He was sentenced to five months in prison.
In January, Weisselberg, 75, was handcuffed and led out of a Manhattan courthouse after a brief sentencing hearing before State Judge Merchan. He was transported to Rikers Island prison to begin serving his sentence.
The impeachment of 76-year-old Trump is a breakthrough after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office investigated how Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, classified the payment and reimbursement to Cohen as legal fees.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and extramarital affairs, calling the investigation in a Truth Social article a “political witch hunt, trying to bring down the Republican Party’s leading contender by far.”
In addition to the secret money investigation in New York, Trump faces separate criminal investigations in Atlanta and Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.