Former President Donald Trump will appear before a familiar face in court Tuesday for his arraignment after being formally charged for crimes related to hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
At 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Trump will appear before Judge Juan Merchan for the first preceding in the unprecedented case against the former president. But it won’t be the first time Merchan has presided over cases involving Trump and his business dealings.
Merchan was the judge overseeing the case and trial of the Trump Organization and its former CFO, Allen Weisselberg. During that trial last year, Merchan shot down assertions from Trump lawyers that the case was politically motivated, according to CBS News.
“I will not allow you in any way to bring up a selective prosecution claim or claim this is some sort of novel prosecution,” Merchan said, later adding that he “will have very little patience at trial any questions that are not in a good-faith basis.”
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Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on April 3, 2023, in New York City. Trump returned to New York for his expected booking and arraignment Tuesday on charges arising from hush-money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign. (AP Photo / Yuki Iwamura)
Merchan ultimately sentenced Weisselberg to five months in prison and ordered Trump’s companies to pay a $1.6 million fine, the maximum amount under New York state law.
Merchan is also the judge presiding over the fraud case against Steve Bannon in relation to the “We Build the Wall” organization.
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Trump is expected to be arraigned Tuesday before Judge Juan Merchan. (Reuters / David Dee Delgado)
Merchan was born in Bogota, Colombia, and emigrated to New York City when he was 6 years old. He was raised in Queens as the youngest of six children.
Merchan began his legal career in 1994 as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan after graduating from Hofstra University School of Law. After five years conducting trials and prosecuting financial fraud cases, he moved to the State Attorney General’s Office, where he held positions overseeing civil cases on Long Island, according to a profile in the New York Times.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Merchan to be a judge on Family Court of the City of New York in Bronx County. In 2009, Merchan was appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau to be an acting justice in State Supreme Court, where he presided over felony criminal trials.
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On March 30, Trump was indicted as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation into hush-money payments made leading up to the 2016 election.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City on April 3, 2023. (Reuters / Eduardo Munoz)
These include the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Fox News Digital has learned.
Hush-money payments made to both McDougal and Daniels had been investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and by the Federal Election Commission.
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Federal prosecutors in SDNY opted out of charging Trump related to the Stormy Daniels payment in 2019. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
