Merchan, the Colombian-born Judge in the Donald Trump Trial

Juan Manuel Merchan is the Colombian-born judge who will preside over the hearing against former US President Donald Trump. Born in Bogota 62 years ago, Merchan emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of six and has been in the judicial profession for three decades. His father was a member of the military forces in Colombia and both he and his wife worked humble jobs to support their six children.

In the case that Merchan will judge, former president Donald Trump faces accusations for allegedly paying $130,000 to porn actress Stephanie Clifford, popularly known as Stormy Daniels, to prevent her from making public an extramarital affair. According to Daniels, she and Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006, an event that the former president insistently denies.

In this regard, Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records for concealing the alleged payment from his former lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels. Cohen was convicted on these counts.This Monday, April 15, the trial began in court. For now, the first step is the election of the 12 members of the jury, a process that could last up to two weeks.

In the trial, Merchan will have the last word on the Republican presidential candidate, after the decision on guilt or innocence is decided by the jury. The trial could last two months and will decide Trump’s fate in the November US election.

Merchan, the Bogota-born US judge

Having emigrated from his native Bogota to the United States in 1966, Judge Merchan grew up in the New York City neighborhood of Jackson Heights in the borough of Queens and was the first in his family to enter college. He studied business at Baruch College in Manhattan. Four years after graduating, he studied law at Hofstra University on Long Island.

In 1994, he began his career as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the same office now prosecuting Trump. Throughout his career, he prosecuted financial fraud and other cases. In 2006, he was appointed a family court judge in the Bronx and has been a criminal judge of the New York State Supreme Court since 2009.

Juan Manuel Merchan is active in New York’s Latino community, participating in the Hispanic Heritage Judges Association, and the Bar Association and is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, according to his professional profile.

The judge is remembered for presiding over the 2012 case of Anna Gristina, the so-called “Soccer Mom Madam”. Gristina ran a prostitution ring for Upper East Side millionaires, in a case that garnered significant media coverage both in New York and outside the Big Apple. Gristina was accused of running a luxury brothel from her Manhattan apartment and eventually pleaded guilty.

The judge and his long ‘relationship’ with Trump

The relationship between Trump and Judge Merchan has been known for some time. In 2022, the judge oversaw the trial against the Trump Organization for tax fraud, imposing a fine of US$1.6 million.

That case resulted in the conviction of Allen Weisselberg, who was the former chief financial officer of the Trump family business and a close associate of the virtual Republican nominee in November’s presidential election.

In addition, Merchan is in charge of the fraud and money laundering case against Steve Bannon, a far-right strategist and loyal ally of the former president. Trump’s defense has tried in vain to remove the judge from the new trial, which is expected to be one of the biggest challenges in the real estate tycoon’s long judicial career.

Former President Trump said a year ago that Merchan “hates me”, denouncing an alleged political animosity of the judge.

Merchan donated $15 to Biden’s campaign

In this regard, Trump’s defense alleges that the judge should be removed from the case because the magistrate’s daughter works for a political consulting firm that has counted the current Democratic president, Joe Biden, as a client. In addition, it is argued that the judge himself contributed $15 to the Democratic candidate’s 2020 campaign and $10 to a group called Stop Republicans.

This is the first time that a former president of the United States has appeared in court on criminal charges. It is a historic event, given that never before has a former president been prosecuted for criminal offenses, despite other scandals that have placed them in the international spotlight.