Presiding over Trump’s historic hush money payments indictment, New York Judge Juan Merchant now finds himself in the former president’s crossfire as his past connection to other Trump-related cases is revealed.
Mershan, who frequently deals with financial issues, came to take over as the former chief due to the rotation of judges charged with overseeing grand juries and any issues arising from them.
On Friday, Trump declared on social media that Merchan “hates me” and is the same person who “wiped out” my 75-year-old former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, for making a “confession” deal.
He armed Alan with force, which no judge shall do, and treated my firm, which did not ‘beg’ forcefully. appeal,” Trump added.
Trump hounded the Merchant family at his Mar-a-Lago speech Tuesday after he was indicted in New York.
“I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family, his daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign, and a lot of it.”
Merchant’s 34-year-old daughter Lauren works for the consulting firm Authentic Broadcasts, which counts Vice President Kamala Harris, the Biden Harris campaign, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Rep. Adam Schiff among her past clients.
New York Judge Juan Merchant is presiding over Trump’s historic hush money payments indictment, and now finds himself in the former president’s crossfire over his past connection to other Trump-related cases.
Born in Columbia and raised in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, the 60-year-old judge has worked as a New York government attorney since the 1990s. He attended Baruch College and Hofstra University Law School and served as a family court judge and assistant district attorney in the New York District Attorney’s Office, which is now suing Trump.
Merchan currently works for the New York Supreme Court, which is a felony level court with branches across the state.
Merchan was at the center of negotiations in 2021 that led to longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg pleading guilty to charges that he withheld taxes on large dollar perks he received from the company — such as Manhattan apartments, a car and a school tuition.
Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison for testifying against the Trump Organization.
Merchan was at the center of negotiations in 2021 that led to longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg pleading guilty to charges that he withheld taxes on large dollar concessions he received from the company.
Merchant’s 34-year-old daughter Lauren works for the consulting firm Authentic Broads, which matters, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Biden Harris campaign, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Rep. Adam Schiff are among her past clients.
After Weisselberg testified, Merchan said he was particularly shocked that Weisselberg’s wife received a one-time payment of $6,000 from the company for a no-show job so that she would be eligible for Social Security, even when her husband was making a lot of money.
“Many Americans work hard in the hope that they might one day benefit from their Social Security contributions,” said the judge.
Merchan said he would have imposed a “harer sentence” if he had not already agreed to a five-month plea bargain.
The Trump Organization then went to trial claiming that the company did not profit from the Weisselberg scheme and that Trump and his family knew nothing about it.
A jury convicted the company and Weisselberg imposed the maximum fine of $1.6 million.
Also on Merchan’s agenda is a case against Steve Bannon, who is accused of defrauding donors of giving money to his fund to build a wall on the southern border.
Bannon called the case “nonsense” and that Trump’s pardon saved him from a similar federal case. After a delay, the next pretrial hearing in this case is scheduled for May 25.
In 2015, Merchan took on the case of four BASE jumpers who snuck into the One World Trade building when it was still under construction and jumped off the top.
After landing, they posted the dramatic snaps of their grandkids, and garnered a lot of attention on social media for what would have been a little-known criminal case.
Mershan sentenced them to community service and said at the time that they tarnished the memories of those who jumped on 9/11 not for sport but because they had to.
In 2012, the so-called “Football Mom Madam” Merchan was sentenced to four months in prison on prostitution charges.
Anna Gristina, a mother of four, maintains her innocence of charges that she alleges she ran a multi-million dollar prostitution ring.
In a case that sparked a media frenzy, Scotswoman Grestina was charged with one count of promoting prostitution after a multi-year investigation into her dealings with high-profile clients, whom she declined to name.
Gristina maintains that she has been running a dating service, “just like match.com”.
Secrets Kept: Anna Gristina, the so-called New York mother of soccer, has denied the charges and said that while prosecutors want her to name one client, she won’t.
