The New York judge who is presiding over former President Donald Trump's criminal case is also overseeing a separate case against former aide Steve Bannon and heard proceedings against the Trump Organization.
State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan oversaw the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump last week on charges related to hush money allegedly being paid to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle.
Although Trump himself was not a party in that case, lawyers for the company attempted to argue the prosecution was politically motivated — an accusation many Republicans have made since the former president's indictment. Merchan dismissed those claims, saying,"I will not allow you in any way to bring up a selective prosecution claim, or claim this is some sort of novel prosecution," according to CBS News.
Merchan is a former prosecutor with 16 years as a judge and has been serving as an acting justice since 2009. He has been described by New York lawyers, both defense and prosecution, as a"no-nonsense" jurist. The judge started his legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in 1994.
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