What to Know
- The unprecedented indictment facing the former president in connection with alleged actions he took to bribe pornographic actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election could land the former New York City resident on trial.
- 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 former President Donald Trump faces in connection with his alleged actions to bribe pornographic actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election will bring the former New York City resident to trial.
Since he faces criminal charges in Lower Manhattan, Trump is tentatively planned to appear before a judge during an arraignment on Tuesday.
And who is the judge who will hear the case? That would be Juan Merchan, who has been an acting justice on the state Supreme Court 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 court 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 on the State Supreme Court.
In the case of the former CFO of the Trump Organization, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 counts and testified against his employer, admitting he was involved in a scheme to defraud federal, state and municipal tax authorities. He was sentenced to five months in jail.
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 the Rikers Island Jail to begin serving his sentence.
The impeachment of the 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 has been investigating how Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, classified the payment and reimbursement to Cohen as legal expenses.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and extramarital affairs, blasting the investigation in a Truth Social post as a “political witch hunt, trying to take down the leading candidate, by far, in the Republican Party.”
In addition to the secret money investigation in New York, Trump faces separate criminal investigations in Atlanta and Washington over his efforts to undo the 2020 election results.
