(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The New York City judge presiding over the prosecution of former President Donald Trump made political contributions to President Joe Biden’s campaign and a “Stop the Republicans” campaign, according to FEC records.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan donated three times to ActBlue, the Democrats’ online fundraising machine for a total of $35. The donations, while small, signal a potential “impartiality” against Trump, the DC Patriot reported.
The records list New York State’s Office of Court Administration as Merchan’s employer. OCA is the “administrative arm” of the New York Supreme Court, the state’s lowest trial court, where Trump is being tried.
The donations aren’t the only ties that link Merchan to Democrats. The judge’s adult daughter, Loren Merchan, worked for the defunct 2020 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris and for the campaign of anti-Trump Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
According to Newsweek, Loren now runs a consulting firm called “Authentic Campaigns,” which lists the Biden–Harris campaign and leftist California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In recent Truth Social posts, Trump lashed out at Merchan, who also presided over a tax fraud case related to the Trump Organization.
“The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case, a ‘Case’ that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME. His name is Juan Manuel Merchan, was hand picked by Bragg & the Prosecutors,” Trump posted.
Merchan served as a Manhattan prosecutor and then as an attorney in the state attorney general’s office before being tapped by then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be a judge in a family court in the Bronx in 2006, according to the Associated Press.
An anonymous New York court official told Politico that judges are “randomly” selected through an “assignment wheel” and that Merchan was picked by mere coincidence.
Merchan also oversaw the arraignment of Steve Bannon—Trump’s former strategist and host of the conservative WarRoom podcast—on charges related to Bannon’s effort to fundraise for a border wall.
The Daily Mail reported Monday that Merchan was believed to would slap Trump with a gag order, which would have ultimately muzzled the former president from speaking on the matter until trial.
Similarly, Trump has accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—a George-Soros-backed prosecutor who made convicting the former president a “No. 1 issue” of his campaign—of plotting a witch hunt against him.
Trump is expected to appear before the New York Supreme Court a second time on Dec. 4, 2023, reported the New York Post.
